I remember the first year we lived in Pennsylvania. We had just moved away from family in Tennessee and were all alone in a cold place! That year it started snowing at Thanksgiving and we didn’t see the ground until April. My best friend was the weather guy on the local PBS station… I had never seen so much snow- but we were cozy and toasty in our little rental. I had three littles at the time, one being a new baby 3 months old. I still have the vision of my daughter, with her sweet apron on and curls around her face decorating cookies in our little dining nook. Sweet sweet memories, even being snowed in for months!

I had an assortment of cookbooks that I would gather recipes from, plus some passed down. I was a sucker for the little seasonal cookbooks in the grocery isle- especially at Christmastime. We made stained glass cookies, gingerbread, oatmeal lace cookies and our family’s personal favorite,  almond crescents. The kids loved making cookies with me- we listened to Wee Sing on the tape player and later CD and sang out loud. This became a regular part of our Christmas rituals, with the kids getting to request at least one special cookie to be made.

Fast forward to 2013, I was diagnosed with Dermatitis Herpetiformis (NOT Herpes!!!) or Duhring’s disease. It’s an autoimmune condition that causes the cells in the skin to react to gluten- miserable. It took months, lots of steroids and distress to get diagnosed and realized that cooking and eating for me was forever going to have to change. I love cooking and have always loved creating fresh whole food recipes to feed my people, so I had to get things figured out, cookies were one of those things!  Some cookies are harder than others to recreate but shortbread is easy, simple to prepare and even keeps in the freezer for company. Try these Orange Cranberry shortbread cookies today. If you do not have an issue with gluten- use all purpose flour in place of the gluten free flour. I find that Cup for Cup flour preforms best for baking- so unless I am using a special blend of flours, is my go to AP GF flour.

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 2/3 cup gluten free all purpose flour ( I use cup for cup in this recipe)

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

grated and diced zest of one orange

1/2 cup chopped cranberries

1/2-3/4 cup of chopped pecans ( optional- you can increase the cranberries to 3/4 cup if not using)

raw turbinado sugar for rolling

Cream softened butter in mixer.  Add orange zest and sugar then mix again until blended well. Add vanilla and mix.

Add the flour and cornstarch along with the salt to the mixer and blend until it just begins to come together. Add your chopped cranberries and pecans and mix until it forms a loose ball.

Place dough on either parchment paper or plastic wrap and form into a log. Roll the log in turbinado sugar until coated well. Wrap in your plastic or paper and place in fridge ( or freeze for later) for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350, slice the log into 1/2 inch disks and bake for 22-25 minutes- depending on if you like your shortbread more or less crispy. I use parchment paper on my cookie sheets- no need to grease the pan if you do as well. Let them cool on the baking sheet until they are set,  then you can move to cool the rest of the way on a rack or counter.

I hope you enjoy these Cranberry Orange shortbread! Feel free to ask questions or give comments. Let me know if you made them and post a picture to my instagram @theresa.p.abraham!

Theresa