Cranberry Orange Cookies

The holidays are here, and it's time to heat up those ovens and start baking yummy treats!  Here's a great recipe I got from a friend, and tweaked it just a bit, to accommodate the Denver altitude.

Large bowl:
1 C butter
1 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. grated orange zest
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Medium bowl:
2 1/2 C flour (add 1/4 C more for high altitude, like I did)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

2 C finely chopped fresh cranberries

~ Preheat oven to 375 degrees ~

1. Add all ingredients in "Large bowl", until smooth and creamy.

 

2. Add all ingredients in "Medium bowl".  Combine into "Large bowl, using an industrial-strength mixwe, or your bare hands. A little wooden spoon will NOT cut it with this recipe!

 

3. Once combined well, toss in cranberries, again mixing well with hands or something strong. Heck, score points with the husband and tell him you need his strength!

 

4. Scoop out into 2 inch amounts and place on ungreased cookie sheets or baking stones, about 2" apart. Remember to alternate pans for each batch, to have cool pans so cookie dough does not spread prematurely. 

 

5. Now this is tricky...the recipe calls for 10-12 minutes, but at out "Mile-High" altitude, I had to bake them for more like 20 minutes.  You'll have to experiment and keep an eye on your batches, until you can figure out the perfect time.

This recipe should make 48 cookies, but I guess it depends on the size you make them.  I doubled my batch to accommodate a Thanksgiving fellowship.

Oh, and almost forgot, there's a recipe for icing these, although I thought they were delicious as is, and didn't bother.  I'll add it though, just in case you want to!

Icing:
1/2 tsp. orange zest
3 Tbsp. orange juice
1 1/2 C confectioner's sugar (powdered)

Mix ingredients and spread over cooled cookies.