Healthier Cranberry Orange Cookies

Cranberry Orange Cookies made with whole grain flour, cashew butter, and dairy-free using Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk.

This post is sponsored in partnership with Almond Breeze. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help me bring you new recipes!

I’m STILL so excited for cookie week, guys. That’s this week, right now, happening here on Fit Mitten Kitchen.

I just love cookies.

I KNEW I had to share a cranberry orange cookie recipe this year. It’s a classic combo and (I personally believe) it is an underrated holiday cookie recipe . . . I’m here to change that.

At my old job, one of the vendors we worked with always sent my department a holiday bundle of cookies and brownies from a baking company. It was definitely one of our favorite packages – there were four cookie flavors and four brownie flavors. Oh em gee, so many sweets. We’d often share cookies during our morning break and then a brownie for an afternoon pick-me-up. Pretty sure we all gained 5lbs in one week. I kid… Kind of.

Anyway, one of my personal favorites was the cranberry orange cookie. There is something special about the tart, yet sweet cranberry paired with zesty orange. And I decided it needed the Fit Mitten Kitchen makeover – meaning healthier ingredients like whole grain flour, a little less sugar compared to your average cookie recipe, adding cashew butter and making them dairy-free friendly thanks to Almond Breeze Almondmilk.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

what you need

• whole wheat pastry flour or 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour (see notes in recipe page)
• baking soda
• salt
• creamy cashew butter 
• dairy-free butter or conventional butter
• coconut sugar or brown sugar
• egg
• orange flavor or food grade essential oil
• vanilla extract
• orange + zest
• Vanilla Almond Breeze
• dried cranberries
• powdered sugar for icing

In this recipe we’re using Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk to help keep the cookie batter soft, because we’re using less butter and adding in cashew butter.

The Vanilla Almond Breeze is also used in the glaze – I often use a milk in my powdered sugar glaze recipes to add more flavor to them. Water is BLAH – use Almond Breeze here to add a slight creaminess to the glaze.

Some notes regarding this cranberry orange cookie recipe

• The flour: I tested this recipe with both whole wheat pastry flour and a 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose baking flour. They were both great, just slightly different in texture. See notes in the recipe page for my suggestions regarding amount.
• Softened butter:  We’re using a little less butter compared to your traditional cookie recipe. Just make sure it’s softened so it creams together well with the sugar.
• Creamy cashew butter: I opted for cashew butter here to keep the flavor more neutral and let the orange flavors come out more. I wouldn’t recommend sunbutter here because you’ll get green cookies! There is a reaction that happens with sunbutter and baking soda. Unless your guests don’t mind and they’ll just be extra festive.
• Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk: Because we’re using less butter in this recipe, the almondmilk helps bring the dough together at the end.

KITCHEN HACK: Keep your pantry stocked with Shelf Stable Almond Breeze so you’ll always be prepared when you’re looking to bake up a storm! The shelf stable and refrigerated Almond Breeze have the same great tasting formula, and once opened will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.

Tips on scooping this cranberry orange cookie dough

To scoop the cookies you’ll want to use a small cookie scoop, slightly overflowed (about a rounded 1/2 tablespoon size), and place on a lined cookie sheet, evenly spaced. These cookies don’t spread too much, so you’ll need to gently flatten them with the palm of your hand.

TIP: To prevent the cookies from all having smooth tops, pinch the dough a little bit with your fingers and add more cranberries and orange zest to the tops.

The cookies bake up in about 8-9 minutes, just watch so that your bottoms don’t burn. Every oven is different, so time is always the best indicator for when your cookies are done.

And then all that’s left is to drizzle the cooled cookies with the Vanilla Almond Breeze icing and sprinkle with orange zest.

Click here for more Almond Breeze holiday recipes.

Whether you’re doing a cookie exchange or just looking to bake up a storm this holiday season, make these ASAP.

Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and review on the blog – I love hearing from you and it helps other readers learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

How to Make…

Healthier Cranberry Orange Cookies {gluten-free, dairy-free}

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 8 minutes
• Total Time: 23 minutes

• Yield: 20 cookies 1x
• Scale: 1x2x3x

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Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup natural creamy cashew butter
• 1/4 cup dairy-free butter or coconut oil*, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp orange flavor
• 1 TBSP freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 TBS Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• Zest of 2 large oranges, divided

icing

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 TBSP Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk, as needed to thin glaze

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In large bowl use electric mixer on low-medium speed to cashew butter, softened coconut oil and sugar for about 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla, orange extract and egg and mix on slow until combined. Slowly start to incorporate bowl of dry ingredients, add in almondmilk 1 TBS at a time to help dough come together.
4. Fold in dried cranberries and one tablespoon of orange zest. Dough will be thick and soft.
5. Use small cookie scoop to scoop a heaping ball of dough and place on prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2-3 inches of room between. You can also use a rounded tablespoon to scoop and roll into ball. Gently flatten cookies a little bit with palm of hand – they don’t spread much.
6. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
7. While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze: mix together powdered sugar with Almond Breeze Vanilla almondmilk. If mixture is too thick for your liking, add a tiny bit of almondmilk at a time. If mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar. Drizzle cooled cookies with powdered sugar and top with more orange zest. Allow glazed cookies to set before storing.
8. Cookies will stay fresh up to one week at room temperature stored in container with lid.

Recipes Notes:

flour: You may use 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (like the light blue bag from Bob’s Red Mill), but you may only need 1 1/2 cups. These cookies were not tested with a grain free flour.

butter vs. coconut oil: If using coconut oil, make sure it is softened and *not* liquid or solid. Use a room temperature egg to ensure even mixing. Using coconut oil may give the cookie dough a more oily feel but the cookies should bake fine.

egg: I did not test these with a vegan egg substitute. Recipe adapted from my Espresso Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Nutrition Information:

• Serving Size: 1 cookie
• Calories: 138
• Sugar: 9
• Sodium: 147
• Fat: 7
• Saturated Fat: 2
• Unsaturated Fat: 1
• Trans Fat: 0
• Carbohydrates: 18
• Fiber: 1
• Protein: 2
• Cholesterol: 9

Category: dessert Method: bake Cuisine: American
Keywords: holiday cookie recipes, dairy free cookies, healthy cookie exchange
Author: Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen