Cranberry and Matcha Cookies (with white chocolate filling)

This easy recipe teaches us how to make cranberry and matcha cookies with white chocolate filling.

Simply decorated with strawberry hearts, sakura flowers, and cashew nuts, these beautiful matcha and cranberry flavor shortbread cookies can be a perfect homemade Christmas, New Year, or Valentine gift.

Cranberry & Matcha Shortbread Cookies

Cranberry shortbread cookie was the very first dessert I ever tried to make.

At that time, I didn’t have any baking tool such as hand mixer, measuring cup, kitchen scale, or piping bag. All I had at home was an oven and a baking sheet.

My friend worked at a bakery told me that cranberry shortbread cookie was the easiest dessert you can make at home without any baking tool or baking experience. So I eyeballed all the ingredients, followed her instructions over the phone, and successfully baked my very first dessert at home.

I got so much interest and confidence in baking from that successful attempt.

After that, I tried to add matcha powder to the cookies, fill the cookies with white chocolate, and top them with fruits, flowers, and nuts.

Yesterday, I decided to teach Mr He how to bake. And of course I chose these fool-proof yet beautiful and delicious cranberry and matcha cookies. He was so exited and proud after seeing the results.

Pro tips for making cranberry & matcha cookies

1. Use room-temperature softened butter.

You can cut the butter stick into small cubes to speed up the softening process. Leave the butter in a mixing bowl on your countertop at least 1 hour ahead before using.

If you forgot to soften the butter ahead, you can also cut it into small pieces and microwave on 50% power for 20 seconds. Remove the butter from the microwave, stir with a spatula. If the butter has not been softened thoroughly, continue to microwave at 50% power in 5-second intervals, stir between each interval until the butter is softened into a toothpaste texture.

2. Use powdered sugar.

We should use powdered sugar (also called confectioners’ sugar) instead of granulated sugar for making our cranberry & matcha cookies.

Firstly, as a finely ground sugar, powdered sugar can be easily mixed with softened butter and other ingredients. So that we don’t need to use a hand mixer.

Secondly, the starch in the powdered sugar will absorb the moisture in the batter, which can reduce the extension of the dough, so that we won’t get flatten cookies.

If you don’t have powdered sugar at home, you can also blend granulated sugar into fine powder as a substitution.

3. Finely chop the dried cranberries.

Use a food processer or a knife to chop the dried cranberries into smaller than quarter of its original size. If we skip this chopping step, the large pieces of cranberries in the dough will make the cookies crack when we cut the dough into slices.

4. To melt white chocolate in a double boiler.

1. Use your hand to break a white chocolate bar into smaller pieces, or you can use chocolate chips, place them in a small glass/ceramic bowl.
2. Fill a small pot with 1 inch of water, bring it to a simmer.
3. Place the small bowl with white chocolate over the simmering pot. Stir the white chocolate pieces with a spoon to ensure they heat evenly.
4. Once all the chocolate has been melted, remove the small bowl from the pot.

It’s usually suggested to have the small bowl nest on the top of the simmering pot, and heat up the chocolate with the hot steam. However, I found it’s totally fine to just soak the bowl directly in the hot water, as long as you don’t leave the chocolate in the hot water bath for too long after it’s fully melted. 

Alternatively you can melt the chocolate in the microwave: Microwave the chocolate chips at 50% power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the microwave, stir with a spoon. If the chocolate has not melted thoroughly, continue to microwave at 50% power in 15-second intervals, stir between each interval until all the chocolate chips are melted.

5. Dry the toppings.

We will use strawberries slices and edible sakura flowers as the toppings of our cranberry and matcha cookies. Make sure you pat them thoroughly dry with some kitchen paper before using, otherwise they will release water and make the cookies soggy.

Or you can use strawberry crisps, cashews, or other nuts and dried fruits of your choice, so that the cookies can stay good for a longer time.

6. Add almond flour and milk powder.

In this recipe, you can simply use 230g all purpose flour to make shortbread cranberry and matcha cookies. However, but replacing a small amount of all purpose flour with almond flour or milk powder (180g all purpose flour + 40g almond flour + 10g milk powder, OR 180g all purpose flour + 50g almond flour, OR 210g all purpose flour + 20g milk powder), you will be able to boost the smell and the taste of the cookies immediately.

7. Keep the dough in the freezer.

The shortbread cookie dough will be too soft and sticky to cut right after you mixing all the ingredients. You can shape the dough into a rectangular block in a sheet of parchment paper, and store it in the freezer for 30 minutes until it becomes hard.

You can actually make the dough in large batch in advance. The uncooked shortbread cookie dough can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 month.

If you keep the dough in the freezer for longer than 30 minutes, you will need to defrost it under room temperature for a couple of minutes until it’s not too hard to be cut. Otherwise the edge of the cookies might crack if the dough is still too hard.

EQUIPMENT you will need:

• Kitchen scale
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet
• Mini cookie cutters (Optional)
• oven

INGREDIENTS list:

• 120 g unsalted butter (softened at room temperature, see some methods here)
• 65 g powdered sugar
• 50 g egg (about 1 large egg)
• 230 g all purpose flour (Or use 180g all purpose flour + 40g almond flour + 10g milk powder for a better taste)
• 30 g dried cranberries (Optional. 30g dried cranberries are for half of the dough. Use 60g dried cranberries if you are not going to make the matcha flavor cookies.)
• 1 tbsp matcha powder (Optional. 1 tbsp matcha powder is for half of the dough. Use 2 tbsps matcha powder if you are not going to make the cranberry flavor cookies.)
• 70 g white chocolate (Optional. Or you can use milk chocolate/dark chocolate.)
• 3 strawberries (Optional)
• 10 salted sakura flowers (Optional)
• 10 cashews (Optional)

Step-by-step INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Add room-temperature softened butter and powdered sugar to a large bowl, mix with a spatula until well combined.

2. Beat an egg in a small bowl until the yolk and white are combined, weigh 50g egg, add the egg to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix with a spatula until well combined.

3. Add all purpose flour (optionally substitute a portion of all purpose flour with almond flour and milk powder for a better taste) to the large bowl, mix with a spatula, then with your hands until well combined. (The dough should be softer and stickier than a bread dough.)

4. Optionally, evenly divide the dough into two portions. Add finely chopped dried cranberries to one portion of the dough, add matcha powder to the other portion of the dough. Mix well with your hands until well combined.

5. Transfer the dough on a sheet of parchment paper, shape it into a 1.5”X1.5”X10” rectangular block. Keep the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes until it turns slightly hard.

6. Preheat oven to 320°F/160°C.

7. Take the dough out from the freezer, remove the parchment paper, and place the dough on a cutting board. Cut the dough block into ⅕ inch (½ cm) thick slices. You should be able to get about 30 slices of cookie dough.

8. Place the cookie slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Optionally use a mini cookie cutter (or the larger side of a piping tip) to hollow the center of each cookie slice.

9. Bake on the middle rack of the oven at 320°F/160°C for 20 to 25 minutes.

To make the white chocolate filling & topping (optional)

1. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.

2. Wash and cut some strawberries into thin slices. Optionally cut them into heart or flower shape with a mini cookie cutter. Soak and rinse some salted sakura flowers. Pat dry the strawberries and flowers with kitchen paper.

3. Fill the center of each cookie with melted white chocolate, top with a slice of strawberry, an edible sakura flower, a cashew nut, or other topping of your choice.

4. Leave the cookies to cool completely on the parchment paper until the chocolate turns hard. You can keep the baking sheet in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.

Storage of cranberry & matcha cookies:

Cranberry & matcha cookies with no filling, with chocolate filling, with dried strawberry topping, or  nuts topping can be storage in an airtight container at room temperature for 7 days, or in the fridge for 10 days. 

Cranberry & matcha cookies with fresh strawberry or sakura topping can’t be stored for a long time. You will need to store them in an airtight container in the fridge and eat them within 3 days. 

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