Cranberry Pistachio Slice and Bake Cookies
The festive sugar cookie you’ve been dreaming of! These Cranberry Pistachio Slice and Bake Cookies are not only super simple to make, but taste absolutely delicious. Not to mention, they’re the perfect cookie to bake for Christmas because…well, they’re red and green! Oh, and do you wanna know the best part? These simple cookies only need a hand-mixer to make, are a small enough batch that it’s enough cookies to enjoy without being too overwhelming, and only takes about 8-10 minutes to bake. It doesn’t get much better than this! Every bite of these slice and bake cookies are perfectly sweet, with a bright tart flavor from the cranberries, and just enough nuttiness from the pistachios. They’re the perfect gift to give this holiday season, or as a delicious addition to your cookie box, or just when you’re craving the perfect Christmas cookie!
→ This post is also available as a Web Story: Cranberry Pistachio Cookies
About The Recipe
December and cookies? Cookies and December? It just makes sense! And trust me, these are the perfect cookies to bake this time of year. They’re super simple, don’t really require anything speciality to make, and taste so. DARN. GOOD.
When my mom first told me about her idea of cranberry pistachio cookies, I was, admittedly, a little hesitant. I hadn’t really eaten pistachios before, but I was all about the color scheme! So, we immediately got to work (after we went to the store and bought a couple bags of pistachios).
Our first test batch were mini drop cookies. It resulted in a tall, fluffy cookie that tasted great, but look-wise? Lackluster, to say the least. None of our beautiful colors showed through.
So, we tried again. A bit bigger drop cookie, but tapped down slightly. This bake SPREAD. Super thin, very large, and still none of our stuff showed through. Our third test bake we tried the bigger cookie without pressing it down and that just…no. It barely spread and resulted in a pretty ugly lump of golden brown cookie. We were stumped!
Our whole goal was to have a beautiful Christmas colored cookie, without added a whole bunch of sugary sweets.
And right when we were about to give up and just take photos of our tasty, but not very aesthetically pleasing cookies, my mom came up with the idea of doing a slice and bake cookie!
We didn’t have a lot of dough left, so these cookies were mini’s to say the least. After rolling and freezing (to speed up the refrigerating time), we got to the moment where we both held our breath. The first slice was stunning!
We were able to achieve the red and green Christmass-y look in the cookie! We quickly baked them and, to our surprise, the cookies only spread a little to give it that drop-cookie look, while having all the beautiful colors show through. It was perfect!
We had the simple delicious recipe as our first batch but in a much more aesthetically pleasing cookie! And, hey, it’s even easier as a slice and bake. Which is a total win when it comes to the holiday’s! Every bite is crunch, yet soft in the center, with tart and sweet cranberries, and delicious chunks of pistachio for the much needed nuttiness.
Why You’ll Love These Cranberry Pistachio Cookies
- Super easy to make
- Require simple ingredients
- Uses a hand-mixer
- No sugary sweets added to give you Christmas colors
- The perfect addition to your holiday cookie box
- Fun to make with your kids
- Makes for a great gift
Equipment Needed
- Mixing Bowls
- Hand Mixer
- Parchment Paper
- Sheet Pans
- Sharp Knife
Ingredients
(Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Large Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Dried Cranberries
- Shelled Pistachios
How To Make These Cookies
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add in the egg and vanilla. Beat until well combined.
Mix in the dry ingredients.
Fold in the cranberries and pistachios.
Place the dough on parchment paper. Roll the dough into a log and roll up in parchment. Cover the parchment with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours..
Slice the dough into 1/4 inch rounds.
Place the rounds onto lined sheet pans and bake at 350 for 8 minutes, or until just lightly browned.
How To Get A Perfectly Round Cookie
The best way is definitely shaping the dough on the parchment with your hands, then rolling it up with the parchment. It creates that perfect circle you’re always looking for with a slice and bake cookie.
Roasted Pistachios or Plain?
For this recipe, you need to use plain, not roasted, no salt pistachios. The simplicity of the plain nut really bright a bright and delicious addition to this cookie. If there was any added salt or flavorings, the cookie just wouldn’t work.
How To Store
Once these cookies are baked and cooled, you can store these cookies in an air tight container and keep on the counter for about a week. You can also store them in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months!
Expert Tips
- Don’t skip refrigerating the dough! It needs to be cold so it will cut.
- Make sure you take the cookies out of the oven just as they start to turn color. They don’t need to be browned!
- Don’t over-mix the cookie dough.
- These cookies taste better after they’ve cooled.
- Double check the pistachios. You need to use plain pistachios with the shells removed. No flavorings or salt added.
When you make these Cranberry Pistachio Slice and Bake Cookies, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Cranberry Pistachio Slice and Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter,, room temperature
- 1 large egg,, room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup unsalted shelled pistachios,, chopped
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until well combined, 1-2 minutes.
- Mix in egg and vanilla.
- Stir in flour mixture.
- Stir in cranberries and pistachios.
- Form dough into a log.
- Wrap in parchment paper.
- Cover in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line 3 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator.
- Use a serrated knife to slice into 1/4" slices.
- Place cookies on prepared pans.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just starting to color.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on pans.
Notes
- Don’t skip refrigerating the dough! It needs to be cold so it will cut.
- Make sure you take the cookies out of the oven just as they start to turn color. They don’t need to be browned!
- Don’t over-mix the cookie dough.
- These cookies taste better after they’ve cooled.
- Double check the pistachios. You need to use plain pistachios with the shells removed. No flavorings or salt added.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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These are tremendous! And so pretty. Upon tasting one, my hubby said he could eat several without stopping.
I live in a retail wasteland: If we don’t have it, you don’t need it. Sigh. The only shelled pistachios locally were lightly salted, so I reduced the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon. For me, the result was a butter cookie taste, not too sweet, not too salty. The crunch of the nuts and the chew of the craisins are a lovely texture combo. Not to mention delicious. I’m sure I’ll try adding orange zest at some point.
Thanks very much for adding a new cookie to my holiday roster.
Hi Joyce! We’re SO glad to hear you loved these cookies. We also live in the same type of area, so we individually shelled pistachio’s. PHEW! Our finger tips were so sore, haha. Thank YOU for baking these cookies and leaving a review. We hope you find more recipes to love on our blog. Xo, Caylie
Loved these cookies I baked today , added orange zest little bit . Yummy .
Hi Mithra! We love the idea of the orange zest you added to the cookies, that sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed them. Happy Holiday’s! Xo, Caylie
These are so great! I added a little lemon zest just for a little more extra flavor.
Hi Laura! We LOVE the idea of adding a citrus zest to these cookies and we’re so glad you enjoyed them! Xo, Caylie