Orange, Cranberry, White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

OK, the title is a mouthful, but let me tell you, these cookies hands down win the best cookie contest (the imaginary one in my mind that is.) Forget about chocolate chip cookies- these buttery, orange-y, chocolate-y cookies will soon be your new favorite. It's not often that I make cookies. I find them tedious and usually un-enjoyable to bake and prefer to make bars or cakes if I have to bake at all, but these were worth every minute in the kitchen. For every Shabbat I make a new and different cake/cookie/pastry for our special family breakfast-some are huge successes and find themselves made again down the line, some are less so. This will be a first for me, but I will be making these cookies again for the second week in a row, that is how delicious they were. Enjoy!



For the orange sugar:
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp fresh orange zest

Mix together and set aside.

For the cookies:
1 cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh orange zest
3/4 cup (150 grams) butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips or white chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the sugar and orange zest together. This will help to better incorporate the orange flavor into the cookie. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and mix until creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed and then mix in the cranberries and white chocolate.
Shape the dough into about one inch balls ( I used the smallest size cookie scoop) and roll each ball into the sugar and orange zest mixture and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press down each cookie with the bottom of a glass to flatten them. Bake for about 7-9 minutes until the edges are light golden brown, don't over bake!

Recipe adapted from Land O' Lakes