Whenever I put a variety of cookies together, I try really hard to include something for every kind of cookie taste. For example, I always include some kind of buttery and crumbly sable, something uber-chocolate, something gooey, something jammy and fruity, and something nutty and spiced. I’m never short on ideas for these categories, but I always freeze when it comes to bars. I love including a bar cookie, no question, but with the dizzying variety, from cheesecakes to lemon bars to brownies, it’s almost another food category entirely and I just can’t decide.
This year was no exception, and an exhaustive research session with my stacks of cookbooks only left me feeling more bewildered. That’s when I decided to combine two of my favorite recipes of all time, this one, and this one (which resulted in EVK recently being featured on Saveur.com). The cookie love-child that resulted was absolutely worth my angst.
There’s just something so right about using a fresh ingredient, in this case, the cranberries in the topping, in holiday baking. They make for a topping that’s both sweet and tart, and the addition of pecans lends a lovely toasted flavor and some crunch. The shortbread, which is the most crumbly (thanks to the semolina) and rich (ahm, butter!) that I’ve ever had. Together, get gooey, sweet-tartness layered over a cookie that crumbles as it melts in your mouth. With or without white chocolate drizzles, they’re a gorgeous addition to your holiday game plan.
Cranberry Shortbread
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours
Cranberry topping
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
Shortbread
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon superfine sugar (or powdered sugar)
2 scant cups (a cup, minus a tablespoon) all-purpose flour, sifted
2/3 cup semolina
big pinch of kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 inch x 8 inch pan with two inch sides.
Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan. Sprinkle in 6 tablespoons of the sugar and cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Pour this into the bottom of the pan, then scatter over the nuts and top with the cranberries. Set the pan aside.
Cream butter and sugar together with a whisk or wooden spoon or paddle attachment of a stand mixer until very pale, light, and fluffy. Add the flour and semolina. Mix very lightly with a wooden spoon and then with your hands until you have a smooth dough.
Pressed the doughevenly into your pan, on top of the cranberry mixture, poking it into the corners with your fingers – don’t worry about it having to look perfect. Bake in the preheated oven until slightly golden, 40-50 minutes. Don’t be alarmed if some of the cranberry caramel seeps up along the edges.
Allow the pan to cool completely. When you are ready to serve, dip the bottom of the pan in hot water for 10 seconds to help loosen the caramel and cut into squares. Use an offset spatula to remove the squares from the pan. Scrape additional cranberry mixture from the bottom of the pan and return to the tops of the squares.
Stores in airtight container in the fridge for 2 days.
7 Comments
I am pretty new to your site, but when I discovered it a week or so ago, I became addicted. I love your photos, the look and feel of your site, and the recipes!
I haven’t had cranberry shortbread in a while, and your recipe looks scrumptious!
Great post!
P.S. I added you to my blogroll and on twitter.
These are so lovely, and of course they sound delicious. I had something similar recently, only with a crumb topping. I definitely want to try these.
These look SO GOOD! I’m a little confused by the directions, though. Do the caramel and cranberries go in a different pan, or are they the bottom layer and you spread the shortbread on top? From the pictures, I’m guessing it all goes in one pan… anyway, I think I might try this with almonds instead of pecans, since I had an almond-cranberry muffin the other day and I loved the combination!
Hi Joanna – The syrup, cranberries, and nuts all go in the same pan. You put the cranberries and nuts in first, then you pour the syrup over them, and finally, you press the shortbread dough on top. Sorry for the confusion! Cranberry almond sounds divine, let me know how it goes.
Note on this, added 12/23/09 – the order in which you put the cranberries, syrup, and nuts in the bottom of the pan does not matter, since they all meld together during the baking process.
This recipe has me buttering two pans but only using one. First an 8 inch square in the first paragraph and then a 9 inch square in the third. I went with the 8 inch since that was called for first, but I definitely should have used the 9. The shortbread was way too thick. Boo.
The directions say to “Pour [the syrup] into the bottom of the pan, then scatter over the nuts and top with the cranberries.” Now I’ve just read in the comments that you said you should put “the cranberries and nuts in first, then you pour the syrup over them.” I’ve never left a negative comment on a food blog before, but this recipe is just so poorly edited. These bars definitely won’t be making their way to our Christmas Eve party tomorrow.
Jasmine – I’m sorry that you’ve had some trouble with this recipe. The directions are unclear on the sequence of events, and I apologize for that confusion, however, this should actually have no effect on the outcome, since the caramel syrup and nut/cranberry mixture do most of their cooking pooled together in the bottom of the pan. Have you baked it yet? It should come out just fine.
The 9 inch mention is a typo. Again, a mistake on my part, but I did actually prepare the shortbread in the photos using 8 X 8.