This recipe for dark chocolate, cranberry and pecan Christmas cookies is a real crowd pleaser in our house…we all love them! I do have to make a point of sending a few out to family and friends though, otherwise I will eat the whole lot and we don’t want that!…well…
Now of course I include the word Christmas in this recipe title but you can make them at any time of year.
This is a good recipe for substitutions and a great swap out for the cranberries would be dried cherries or chopped up apricots or change up the pecans for the classic macadamia which works very well. You could put some chopped up wall nuts in. The cranberry and pecan is a combo that my family enjoy which is why I make them…
This recipe is definitely our go to recipe at the moment for cookies. Its so easy to make and I can get the kids invloved without too much mess or too many mistakes as it is a one bowl prep dish. They love making cookies and eating all of the filling ingredients – note to self – always buy extra!
substitutions and additions…
- Replace the pecans in this recipe with any other of the following…walnuts, macadamia, hazelnuts or almonds.
- Replace the dried fruit in this recipe with any of the following…sultanas, raisins, chopped up apricots, dried cherries, chopped up dates and chopped up dried apple also went quite well I thought…
- Replacing the dark chocolate for milk or white is absolutely fine too! I did make a version which just had large chocolate chunks in and no fruit. Particularly tasty! Microwaved for about 10 seconds and served with a blob of ice-cream on top…
- vanilla extract – 1stp at butter and sugar stage is very nice…
- Making chocolate orange cookies is easy! Swap the chocolate out your favorite brand of orange chocolate. You can also add 1tsp orange extract to the mix, but make sure you add it to the butter and sugar so it is completely worked through the mix.
Can I freeze them?
You most defiantly can! Freezing cookies is a great way to get ahead of the game! I’m currently experimenting with Christmas cookie recipes and designs and trialing all different kinds of recipes! The top drawer of my freezer will keep me in cookies until July!
To freeze the cookies make sure they are fully cooled from the oven, pop them into the freezer on something flat. Once frozen pop them into something airtight separated by baking parchment or grease proof paper. They should be good in the freezer for 3 months or more.
…
Ingredients…
- 200g unsalted butter
- 250g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 275g self raising flour
- 75g cocoa powder
- sprinkle of salt
- cranberries 100g
- 1 large bar of dark chocolate – 150g
- pecans roughly chopped – 100g
…
Method…
- pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees…
- cream together your butter and both sugars until you achieve a nice smooth consistency…
- add your egg, self raising flour, cocoa powder, and salt and bring together – if its dry add a drop of milk
- mix in your fillings…
- divide your cookie dough into 60-70g portions – you should have around 9 or 10 cookies…
- cover 2 trays in baking paper and place the cookie dough over the 2 trays evenly spaced…
- pop in the oven for 11-13 minutes…mine were perfect after 11 minutes but times can vary…
- cool for half an hour before eating and enjoy…
