Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

I saw these cookies on Pinterest and thought they looked really yummy.  Then I followed the pin to a food blog from Singapore and the entire recipe was in metric and I did not feel like converting it.  Lucky for me (and for you) I found a similar recipe from Southern Living (which pretty much ensured they'd be good).

Oh my, I love these little cookies!  Even my husband loves them, which is AMAZING because he is not a fan of Craisins (he even goes to the trouble of picking them out of my homemade granola bars).  The dough requires at least 4 hours to chill, which could be a hassle, but it's totally worth it because all that time in the fridge lets the flavor of the orange zest diffuse throughout the dough.  I just made my dough the night before and baked it the next day.

I made these without the almond extract because I was out (whoops) and they still turned out yummy.  So if you don't have almond extract either, no worries.

I gave some of these goodies to some friends recently and took a cue from rolling and wrapping the dough and rolled and wrapped the cookies in wax paper:

Cute for gift giving, eh?  If you don't eat them all first, that is.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
from MyRecipes.com

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 Tbsp. orange zest (from 1-2 oranges, depending on size)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
wax paper

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.  Stir in chopped cranberries, orange zest, vanilla, and almond extract until well blended.

In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Shape dough into 2 (7-inch) logs and wrap each in wax paper.  Chill dough for at least 4 hours or freeze logs in a Ziploc bag for up to one month.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  If frozen, let logs stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Slice each log into 24 pieces (about 1/4-inch thick slices).  Place slices about 1 inch apart on lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges of slices are golden.  Remove cookies to wire racks and cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 4 dozen.