These melt-in-your-mouth vegan cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies are perfect for any occasion. But the green pistachios and red cranberries fit especially well with Christmas time.

3-ingredient vegan shortbread cookies

That’s all you need for the basic recipe: vegan butter, powdered sugar, and flour. We’ll make these cookies a tad bit better by adding a pinch of salt, some orange zest, and cranberries and pistachios.

Leaving out cranberries and pistachios would mean you’re not preparing this recipe anymore. To be honest, these cookies are super tasty without those two ingredients, too. Especially in December, when everything is about red and green.

Keeping it simple is the key to success. Shortbread cookies are one of the easiest cookies under the Sun. Adding a few additional ingredients surely makes them even better, but there’s no need to over-complicate with multiple kinds of sugar, the very special flour of a certain type etc. For a start, go with what you’ve got and learn along the way.

What to be careful about

As always there are a few things that might help you with preparation:

-> Whipping vegan butter and sugar helps a lot. It combines the two ingredients well and softens the vegan butter just enough so it’s easier to later combine it with flour. This way you don’t over-knead the dough and don’t create gluten bonds. The baked cookies are even crunchier this way.

-> Don’t over-knead the dough. As mentioned above, over-kneading causes gluten bonds to start forming, which results in stiffer cookies. We want these cookies crumbly, crunchy, and light.

-> Use good quality ingredients. I’m using cranberries without added sugar – dried cranberries are usually loaded with sugar because they tend to have a sour-bitter taste. My nr.1 choice are Drobtinka’s cranberries – they are dried at low temperatures and sweetened with apple juice. The same goes for pistachios: use the good quality ones so they have a lovely colour and nice taste. Use high-quality vegan butter and flour. It all plays a role in your final product – the cookie.

-> Make sure you keep them in cold for a while. This way they will hold the round shape and won’t just melt while baking. The butter in the dough needs to be cold for these cookies to turn out well. You can either freeze them or keep them in the fridge.

Do you like cookies? Try my vegan cookies with cocoa nibs or maybe vegan walnut crescent rolls. If you’re looking for more holiday recipes, you might like my softest vegan cinnamon rolls, traditional Slovenian holiday roll called Potica, or maybe some vegan brownie scones.

Are you recreating any of my recipes? Don’t forget to take a photo and tag me on Instagram @littlekitchenvibes

Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

These melt-in-your-mouth vegan cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies are perfect for any occasion. Simple to make they will rejoice the whole family.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Cooling time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, european

Servings 35 cookies

Ingredients

  

• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp orange zest
• pinch salt
• pinch baking powder
• 250 g vegan butter
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 80 g dried cranberries
• 80 g raw pistachios

Instructions

 

• Prepare all the ingredients. Mix flour, orange zest, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Chop raw pistachios and dried cranberries into small pieces.
• In a separate bowl mix powdered sugar and vegan butter. Whip it with an electric mixer so they incorporate well and the butter becomes softer.
• Add the butter and sugar mix to the dry ingredients and knead with your hand until the dough starts forming a ball. Then add chopped dried cranberries and pistachios and knead them into the dough.
• Once all the ingredients are distributed equally, shape the dough into a log. Lightly flour your working surface and shape the dough by rolling it with your palms. Make sure the ends are straight and the log is equally thick along the entire length. The diameter should be about 6-7 cm.
• Wrap your log up into a wrapping foil (I use reusable wax wrapping paper) and place it into the freezer for one hour or into the fridge for at least 4 hours.
• Once your dough is cold, take it out and unwrap it. Cut it into 8mm-1 cm thick rings and place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• You'll fill up two baking sheets. Bake them separately.
• Bake your cookies at 180°C for 10 minutes or until the edges start turning golden brown.
• Once baked, let them cool down for a few minutes. They will remain soft for a few minutes after baking so make sure to leave them to harden.

Keyword cranberry cookies, cranberry pistachio, vegan shortbread, vegan shortbread cookies