Go Back
Print

Cranberry Orange Snowballs

Classic snowball cookies, but with dried cranberries and orange zest for a fun makeover.
Course Cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 36
Author Sarah @ The Gold Lining Girl

Ingredients

  • 1 c. shortening
  • 2 c. powdered sugar divided
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • zest of 2 oranges
  • 1 c. dried cranberries finely chopped

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening, 1/2 c. powdered sugar, flour, vanilla, 1/2 the orange zest, and cranberries, until mixture is well-combined.
  • Shape into scant 1-inch balls.
  • Place balls two inches apart on parchment paper or silicone mat-lined cookie sheets.
  • Bake at 325 degrees for 20-22 minutes, or until they appear set.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining orange zest and remaining powdered sugar.
  • Immediately from the oven, carefully (they're fragile when hot, and they break easily) roll the cookies in powdered sugar. (PLEASE SEE NOTES FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON DUNKING THE COOKIES!)
  • Move to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

For dunking snowballs, I like to arrange the powdered sugar in a large deep dish pie plate. I use two small forks to lift the cookies from the cookie sheet, and then I set them in the pie plate, and basically bury them in powdered sugar using the forks to 'scoop' it over the tops of the snowballs. I usually can fit 5 or 6 at a time in the pie plate, so I'm not doing this one by one. I let them sit for a minute so that the sugar melts on the surface of the cookie, and it does a better job of sticking. I also don't really try to remove any excess. It usually 'sets' on the cookies pretty well as they cool.