KAMUT® Brand Wheat Cranberry Bliss Cookies
This recipe tastes like the holidays in a cookie. The cranberry, orange zest and subtle almond flavor are reminiscent of a holiday offering at our favorite coffee chain but in cookie form and made with only the best ingredients so you can indulge guilt-free this holiday season.
This post is sponsored by KAMUT® Brand Wheat. Of course any opinions here are my own and if you’ve been here a while, you are well aware that it’s my favorite! If you haven’t yet tried this special, ancient variety of wheat, it’s a must for the most flavorful and nutritious baked goods this holiday season! To learn more about my love for this grain, click here to read a post I wrote long before I ever partnered with the brand that explains why I bake with KAMUT® Brand Wheat.
Quality ingredients really shine through in the final product and this recipe is no different. Cookies made with KAMUT® White Flour not only taste better but baking with ancient grains makes these cookies healthier too! Enter superfood mix-ins like orange and cranberries and these Cranberry Bliss Cookies will be the star of any holiday cookie exchange.
I know these delicious cookies will be on any holiday cookie tray I make this season and I think they’ll also be the perfect addition to our Thanksgiving dessert table! Because they’re easy to pack, these cookies are also perfect for holiday gift-giving. Right now, these Cranberry Bliss Cookies are even my front-runner for teacher gifts!
Ingredients to Make KAMUT® Brand Wheat Cranberry Bliss Cookies
- KAMUT® White Flour or other All-Purpose White Flour
- Baking Soda
- Fine Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- White Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Orange Extract
- Orange Zest
- White Chocolate Baking Chips
- Dried Cranberries
Tools to Make KAMUT® Brand Wheat Cranberry Bliss Cookies
- 3 Cookie Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Small and Medium Mixing Bowls
- Microplane or fine grater
- Whisk or Dough Hook
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Stand Mixer fitted with Paddle Attachment or Hand Mixer and Large Bowl
- Wooden Spoon or Sturdy Spatula
- 2 oz Cookie Scoop
All About Ingredients for KAMUT® Brand Wheat Cranberry Bliss Cookies
Flour
I used KAMUT® Brand Wheat in this recipe because it tastes amazing and increases the nutritional value of each cookie. I used KAMUT® White Flour in this cookie recipe and the cookies not only taste great but offer 5% of the daily recommended fiber intake and almost 5 grams of protein. Flour is the most prominent ingredient in these cookies and in most baking recipes so using high-quality flour that tastes good is essential to achieving a delicious final product that’s also nutritious. Find out more about KAMUT® Brand Wheat here.
Butter
I used cold butter in this and most of my cookie recipes because it allows me to make cookies whenever the mood strikes and allows me to reduce or eliminate dough chill time but I recommend you only use cold butter if you’re using a high-powered, bowl-lift stand mixer so I write all of my cookie recipes with the option to use cold or softened, room-temperature butter.
If you use cold butter, skip dough chill time and move straight onto baking. If you use softened butter, chill scooped cookie dough on trays for 30 minutes.
This recipe calls for unsalted butter but use what you have! If you only have salted butter on hand, use that and omit added salt.
Almond Extract
The almond extract is that taste you can’t quite put your finger on but it’s required to bring that nostalgic holiday coffee shop taste. I recommend pure almond extract for an authentic taste.
Vanilla Extract
The vanilla extract adds warmth and richness to these cookies. Much like the almond extract, the vanilla flavor might not stand out on its own but you’d miss it if you skip this ingredient and much like the almond extract, pure vanilla extract will bring the best flavor.
Orange Zest & Extract
Unlike the almond and vanilla extracts that blend into the cookie and adds indistinguishable flavor, the orange should be pronounced. To accomplish this, mix the orange zest, orange extract and white chocolate chips with a little additional KAMUT® White Flour so these flavors quite literally stick together and you taste that distinct orange flavor in each bite. Pure orange extract will taste better than artificial flavoring and use the best, flavorful orange you can find.
White Chocolate Baking Chips
Taste test white chocolate chips and use your favorite in this recipe. Just like flour, high-quality baking chips will make or break your cookies. This doesn’t always mean the highest-cost ingredients, but each individual part should taste great for an overall recipe to really shine.
Dried Cranberries
In this recipe, I used sweetened dried cranberries. These are much more readily available and the sweetness balances the tartness of the cranberries. However, if you only have unsweetened dried cranberries or you want to reduce the sugar in this recipe, you can substitute unsweetened dried cranberries.
How to Make KAMUT® Brand Wheat Cranberry Bliss Cookies
Preheat oven to 350℉. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Add white chocolate baking chips to a small bowl then grate orange rind into the bowl using a microplane or fine grater. Stir together white chocolate baking chips, orange zest, orange extract, and 1 tsp of KAMUT® White Flour. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, using a whisk or dough hook, combine remaining 1 ¾ cups of KAMUT® White Flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixing bowl and hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and both sugars on medium speed. Lower the mixer speed and add eggs, one at a time then vanilla and almond extracts and mix between each addition, scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl as needed. Mix until just combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in a few batches (or just one if using a large stand mixer). Mix until just combined then remove the bowl from the stand mixer or set aside the hand mixer. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chip and orange mixture by hand using a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.
Using a large, 2-oz cookie scoop, place 6-8 level scoops of dough on each parchment-lined cookie sheet. If you used room-temperature butter, chill prepared cookie sheets for 30 minutes. If you used cold butter, skip this step.
Bake for 16 minutes, rotating each baking sheet and swapping oven racks halfway through the baking time. Cookies are finished baking when the bottom edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown.
Transfer each cookie sheet to a wire rack. Serve warm or let cookies cool completely on trays to maintain that soft, chewy texture long after cooled. Click here for more of my cookie tips.
KAMUT® Brand Wheat Cranberry Bliss Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (270g) KAMUT® White Flour PLUS 1 tsp (divided)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter cold or softened *(see note)
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- zest of one orange
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add white chocolate baking chips to a small bowl then grate orange rind into the bowl using a microplane or fine grater. Stir together white chocolate baking chips, orange zest, orange extract, and 1 tsp of KAMUT® White Flour. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, using a whisk or dough hook, combine remaining 1 ¾ cups of KAMUT® White Flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a mixing bowl and hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and both sugars on medium speed. Lower the mixer speed and add eggs, one at a time then vanilla and almond extracts and mix between each addition, scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl as needed. Mix until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in a few batches (or just one if using a large stand mixer). Mix until just combined then remove the bowl from the stand mixer or set aside the hand mixer. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chip and orange mixture by hand using a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.
- Using a large, 2-oz cookie scoop, place 6-8 level scoops of dough on each parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- If you used room-temperature butter, chill prepared cookie sheets for 30 minutes. **(see note)
- Bake for 16-18 minutes, rotating each baking sheet and swapping oven racks halfway through the baking time. Cookies are finished baking when the bottom edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown.
- Transfer each cookie sheet to a wire rack. Serve warm or let cookies cool completely on trays.
Notes
