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Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries

These delightful Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries are both pretty and delicious!

stack of Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries

In the “something different” category, these lovely cookies are made with homemade macadamia butter. Now, it’s not every day that I make my own nut butter, but it’s well worth that little bit of effort for these Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries!

Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries stacked in a white serving dish

Add to that nuttiness some sweet, tart cranberries, and you’ve got yourself one fantastic cookie that’s sure to disappear quickly.

To dress up these cookies, each ball of cookie dough gets a little sugar added to the top before baking. That not only adds a little extra sweetness, but it also provides a little sparkle for some aesthetic appeal. Regular sugar works just fine for that, but feel free to use some sanding sugar if you prefer.

Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries neatly arranged in a white serving dish

Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries are wonderfully buttery, chewy cookies. The cranberries add a bit of sweetness and tartness to make them a bit more interesting.

These pretty cookies have been a favorite for a long time. And while they’re a great choice year round, I especially love baking them at Christmas time. The color of the cranberries and the sparkle of the sugar make them a popular choice at cookie swaps or as a homemade gift.

Find more cookie recipes in the Recipe Index.

Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries

Yield about 30 cookies
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 46 minutes

Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries feature a quick and easy homemade macadamia butter plus lots of sweet, tart cranberries.

stack of Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries

Ingredients

  • 1 & 1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2/3 cup (100g) macadamia nuts
  • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup (57g) sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  2. Place the macadamia nuts in a food processor. Process until smooth, about 2 minutes.
  3. In a large bowl, combine processed macadamia nuts, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar using an electric mixer at medium speed. Add vanilla extract and egg. Beat well. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Dough will be thick. Stir in cranberries. Chill dough 10 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 375°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  5. Place 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll dough into balls about 1-inch in diameter. Lightly press each ball into sugar. Place cookie balls, sugar side up, on prepared baking sheets. Gently press the top of each cookie with a fork twice to form a crisscross pattern. Dip fork in water as needed to keep it from sticking to cookies.
  6. Bake cookies (1 baking sheet at a time) for 9-11 minutes, or until golden. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light.

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    7 Comments on “Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries”

  1. Oh these look wonderful! 🙂 I love macadamia nuts, and these cookies do look very festive!

  2. I love butter cookies! they are the best, so soft and delicious

  3. i have been recently addicted to butter cookies.i would have made this one.pity we don’t get cranberries here.

  4. Just last night my Kitchen OCD took over and I almost threw away the last of some dried cranberries I had used on a Wild Boar, Goat Cheese and Cranberry pizza. Why did I want to throw them out when they were still perfectly good? Because I was annoyed by having to look at the cheap plastic container they came in! Why didn’t I just take them out of there and put them in a more appealing container? Hey, whose comment is this – yours or mine??

    Anyway, I DID NOT throw them out, and it was apparently God’s will because now I have the perfect recipe for them!

  5. Hi, first time in here and love it. The cookies cut my attention and eager to make them. One question and apologize for my ignorance but I dont see any butter in the recipe.

    • Welcome, Silvio! The cookies are actually made from macadamia butter, which is similar to peanut butter. It’s made by grinding up the macadamias in a food processor.

  6. Thank you so much!! I made a batch and they are already gone, they are absolutely Fab!Love them :-).

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