Recipe Monday: The 12 Days of Cookies: Day 7

How convenient, right? Here we are on Day 7 of The 12 Days of Cookies, our quest to bake and blog 12 cookies in 12 days from the Bon Appétit 2008 Holiday Cookie-a-Day collection, and we’re gaining momentum!

First the recipe, then my notes:

Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (packed) dried sweetened cranberries (about 10 ounces)
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup chopped unsalted natural pistachios
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

Preparation:

Butter 3 baking sheets. Combine dried sweetened cranberries and orange juice in small bowl. Let stand until dried cranberries soften slightly, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Whisk all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until just blended.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter and golden brown sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg, minced ginger, vanilla extract, and grated orange peel and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour-spice mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts, chopped pistachios, coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, and dried cranberries with any juices that have accumulated.

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing tablespoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until golden and almost firm to touch in center, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool cookies completely. (Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature.)

Notes:

This is one terrific cookie. The combination of Craisins (sweetened dried cranberries) and fresh cranberries (I used some I’d stashed away in the freezer before Thanksgiving), with the orange zest, walnuts, pistachios, and ginger, make this a standout drop cookie.

I changed nothing about this recipe, so I’ll just offer this one tip in the name of efficiency. You can chop the nuts and fresh cranberries altogether in the food processor. Just drop the walnuts, pistachios, and cranberries in the food processor, and in about 10 – 15 pulses, it’s all done, mixed together and ready to dump in the batter.

Another tip I picked up somewhere along the way (probably on Food Network) regarding the ginger: I don’t know about you, but I buy fresh ginger for something, and wind up throwing away half of it, because I don’t use it up before it goes bad. Try this – when you buy ginger, cut it up into one-inch or two-inch pieces, peel it, and put it in a freezer bag and put it in your freezer. When you need ginger for a recipe, take out a piece and grate it, frozen, directly into your recipe.

Well, that’s it for Day 7 – a whole week’s worth of cookie recipes tested in real home kitchens, before you break the first egg. Thanks for stopping by!

Please visit my partners in holiday baking, below, and see what they’ve got in store for you. And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the eighth installment!

Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes (honorary member and our founder but not participating this year)
Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook
Judy of No Fear Entertaining
Kelly of Sass & Veracity
Michelle of Big Black Dog
RJ of Flamingo Musings (hey! that’s me!)
Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench
Tiffany of The Nesting Project