Matcha Cranberry Shortbread
This festive treat is a matcha shortbread with dried cranberries and a white chocolate drizzle.
Store them away in your fridge or freezer or slice and bake the same night – we’re obsessed with these festive matcha cranberry shortbread cookies. The matcha provides a rich smooth flavour with floral notes and a bright and vibrant green colour. The dried cranberries lend a nice sweetness to the cookies while the white chocolate drizzle is the perfect way to balance it all out.
They come together in just one bowl with minimal ingredients. Whether you have a hand mixer, stand mixer, or just your arms and a whisk – these simple treats come together in no time. Then just roll them into a log, chill, slice, and bake!
Why you’ll this recipe:
Easy to make with minimal ingredients.
A great balance of flavours.
Super easy to make ahead and store.
Top tips for making matcha cranberry shortbread cookies:
Let the butter soften. The key to the cookies flavour and texture is vegan butter and we promise you cannot make this dough with butter straight from the fridge. Pull out the butter at least 20-30 minutes prior to making the dough to ensure it’s soft enough to beat.
Use a hand or stand mixer. You can make this recipe by hand with a whisk or rubber spatula for the best results we recommend using an electric hand or stand mixer. It allows you to really whip up the butter get a super light and airy cookie.
Don’t over-mix the dough. These cookies are meant to be super light and tender. However if you mix the flour too much then you’ll create a cookie that’s tough. Mix until just combined and no longer if possible.
Let chill the dough chill. This dough has a high ratio of fat to flour which means when not chilled they will spread a lot. To avoid this, let the dough rest in the fridge or freezer for at least 1 hour before baking to make cookies that keep their shape.
Bake until lightly golden on the edges. You’re not looking for a deep golden colour for these cookies, just slightly golden brown around the edges at the base of the cookie.
How to make matcha cranberry shortbread cookies:
Prep Time: 15 Min | Chill Time: 60 Min | Bake Time: 15 Min | Total Time: 1 Hr 30 Min
Makes: 15 cookies
Ingredients
226 g (1 cup) vegan butter, softened
80 g (⅔ cup) icing sugar
1 tbsp matcha powder
240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries
75 g (1/2 cup) dairy-free white chocolate
Instructions
In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy- about 5 minutes. Cream the icing sugar and matcha powder into the butter for about 2 minutes.
Briefly mix in the all-purpose flour until JUST combined, meaning no or minimal dry flour remains.
Using a silicone spatula fold in the dried cranberries until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Roll into a log and wrap in clear wrap. Rest in the fridge for at least 60 minutes.
Heat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Using a sharp knife slice the log into cookies and place on the prepared baking sheet. You only need about 1 cm of space between each cookie as they don’t spread too much.
Bake for 11-12 minutes or until they are just starting to get golden at the bottom.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt the white chocolate using your preferred melting method and drizzle over the cooled cookies. We used a ziplock bag to help make the drizzle a bit more uniform.
Pop the cookies in the fridge to set the chocolate and enjoy! These can be stored in the fridge or at room temperature.