Cranberry-Wine Swirl Cookies
I left Northern California at 18—a few years shy of being able to reap the benefits of living so close to wine country. Now my trips home regularly feature a local bottle or two, which my dad carefully pairs with my mom’s holiday cooking (I know, adorable).
Ingredients · Servings about 18
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 1¾ cups (219 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
- ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more
- ⅔ cup plus ¼ cup (183 g) granulated sugar
- 1 medium orange
- 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg, separated
- 1½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup red wine
- Sanding sugar (for coating)
Method · 1 h 15 min
- Whisk ½ tsp. baking powder, 1¾ cups (219 g) all-purpose flour, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl; set aside.
- Place ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar in a large bowl. Finely grate zest from 1 medium orange into bowl and massage into sugar with your fingers until mixture starts to clump and is fragrant; set orange aside. Add 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, and, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add 1 large egg yolk and 1½ tsp. vanilla extract and beat to combine, about 30 seconds. Add reserved dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until a crumbly dough forms.
- Place a large sheet of plastic wrap on a surface. Turn out dough onto plastic and pat into a rectangle, pressing down to make as thin as possible and making sides even (this will make dough easier to roll out later). Wrap dough up to enclose and chill 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, halve and juice reserved orange (you should have about ¼ cup); pour into a medium saucepan. Add 1¼ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, 1 cup red wine, remaining ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, and a big pinch of kosher salt. Set over medium-high heat; cook, stirring and scraping down sides often and smashing cranberries with a heatproof rubber spatula, until mixture thickens enough to hold a line when spatula is dragged through it and no whole berries remain, 11–13 minutes; let jam cool (it will continue to thicken as it cools).
- Unwrap dough; reserve plastic wrap. Place dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper on a surface and dust lightly with flour. Let sit 5 minutes, then, with a short side facing you, roll out to a 14x10" rectangle. Trim sides to straighten; discard scraps.
- Spread a thin layer of jam over dough, going all the way to the edges on 3 sides and leaving a 1" border on top short side. Starting on the short side nearest you and using parchment paper to help it keep its shape as you go, roll up dough to form a log. Wrap in parchment, then reserved plastic and twist ends to tighten and seal (this will preserve the log’s shape). Freeze 1 hour.
- Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk 1 large egg white in a small bowl. Spread out some sanding sugar on a large sheet of parchment paper. Unwrap dough and lightly brush egg white all over outside of log; roll in sanding sugar to coat. Slice into rounds about ⅜" thick. Place on 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper, spacing 2" apart.
- Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until golden brown, 18–20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack with a spatula (if using parchment, jam may stick in spots); let cool completely. Do Ahead: Jam can be made 3 days ahead; transfer to an airtight container and chill. Dough can be made 1 week ahead; keep frozen. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before using.
“rectangle. Trim sides to straighten; discard scraps. Step 6Spread a thin layer of jam over dough, going all the way to the edges on 3 sides and leaving a 1”
BAKER’S NOTE: This recipe is all about temperatures. The dough is easiest to roll when it's room temperature (malleable but not overly soft), and the swirls are easiest to slice straight from one hour in the freezer (very firm but not frozen solid). It may seem finicky, but all the back and forth to and from the fridge is worth it for clean swirls and crisp slices that don’t spread much as they bake.