One of my favorite parts about living in California is the food.
My inner fat kid is in heaven.
Aside from all of the restaurants we’ve been trying, I’ve also loved all the produce. Citrus is amazing here! These protein lemon squares didn’t last long in my kitchen… but the Gran Marnier Cranberry Cookies I’m sharing today disappeared almost immediately!
I had a bunch of oranges left over from our citrus picking adventure and was trying to think of a fun way to use it. Naturally, I turned to cookies and booze.
Boozy cookies might seem a bit strange, but they are amazingly good.
The cookie-making method I used here comes from these Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies. It is by far my favorite way to make a cookie. If you like a soft, doughy cookie, these will be your favorite too.
These cookies took on a different flavor profile. The orange flavor from the fresh fruit and the orange liqueur is light a refreshing for spring. I added the cranberries to give it some texture and a bit of tartness… and because it seemed like a California thing to do.
[Tweet “Don’t miss this citrusy Gran Marnier Cranberry Cookie #Recipe!”]
Grand Marnier Cranberry Cookies
- 2.25 C (270 grams) whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1.5 tsp cornstarch
- Zest of 1 orange
- 3/4 C (1.5 sticks) salted butter, browned
- 3/4 C (150 grams) dark brown sugar, loosely packed
- 1/2 C (100 grams) xylitol (or other sweetener)
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Juice from 1/2 orange (~3 T)
- 2 T orange liqueur (I used Grand Marnier)
- 1 C cranberries
Place cranberries in a small bowl with liqueur and orange juice. Toss to coat and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and cornstarch. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat browned butter and sugars together. Beat in the egg, followed by the egg yolk. Add the vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together. Strain cranberries. Pour orange juice and liqueur into batter. Stir to combine. The dough will be very soft. Don’t worry.
Fold in the cranberries. Cover the dough and chill for at least an hour, or overnight. *Do not skip this step*
When ready to bake, heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper .
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough into balls (~1 heaping tablespoon each). Shape them into tall balls to help them bake up to be thick. Place them on the lined cookies sheets with ~1 inch of space between (they will spread).
Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. Don’t bake them any longer!!! They should look soft and under-baked. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet.
*Note: Room temperature egg/egg yolks are best for even disbursement.
How have you enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family stare with strange but good creations this week? The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends! Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.
Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂
***
These were baked before the oven caught fire, obviously…
What is your favorite type of cookie?
Have you ever baked with booze?
Anything with Grand Marnier is good to me! Love that schtuff!! I want cookies now!
I see no strange in boozy cookies. Not at all. It’s more answering a question I never asked! They look very very delicious!
This oven incident still has me! I am so grateful for having an electronic oven. When I lived in the UK we had a gas oven and for the first 3 weeks there I only cooked with the microwave because I didn’t dare to touch the damn gas thing. Then I asked a neighbour to show me how to use it. We never eally got friends – the oven and I.
I hope everything is back to normal and you continue to bake cookies like those 🙂
Answering a question you never asked… I love that!
Gas stoves are actually better since you can control the temperature better. But yeah, can be scary too!
Booze in anything is a win for me! Haha!
Grand Marnier is such an underused liqueur too – anything to get this old classic back out! 😀
My inner fat kid haha! Love the sound of these.
Always taking it to the next level. And I like it. Boozy baked goods are amazing.
I knew you’d understand! 😉
I am so jealous of all your CA eats. And the Kimbrell thing you posted on FB, touche!
Haha! It is so funny to watch him and Upton in Padres uniforms.
those cookies look and sound awesome!!
You know what I need? Another cookie recipe to be obsessed with… Oh wait, I just found one! Thank you for sharing!
I always forget how much I LOVE dried cranberries! Need to bake with them more often. These cookies look great!
Thanks! I don’t use them enough either!
Girl, you have a inner fat kid too? Mine is trying to win me over and make some more chocolate currently lol. But those cookies, they are right up my alley. Delish.
Kay of Pure & Complex
http://www.purecomplex.com
Thanks! My inner fat kid is a powerful little brat. LOL!
This looks SOOO GOOD!!! Omg bookmarking!! If I don’t have the sweetener, can I use regular sugar or omit it entirely and just stick to the dark brown sugar? Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend Laura! -Iva
You can use any sweetener you like! Sugar, stevia… it’ll all work. 🙂 Let me know if you try it!
you know i love boozy balls and cookies! and gah… i want to move to CA! can i? food envy
Pretty please??
Umm yum I could use a dozen right now, do you deliver?? 😉
It said cookies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
Hahaha – I always think of you when I have cookies.
The combination of orange and cranberry is always a winner!
Why on earth did I not link up my Potato Ramp Soup from yesterday? That’s totally strange. What was I thinking? Oh clearly, I wasn’t. Blog fail.
I said it already, but again… mmmm… ramps!
When are you moving in? And baking me this on command. hahahahahah.
Ha! I’m never moving again. But come to SD and there will be a plate of them for you!
ooh you have been posting lots of yummy looking food lately!
What awesome cookies you brought here for us! Thank you 😀
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I can’t think of a better snack to serve at happy hour on a Friday- eat your liquor, drink it—> anything goes! I am pretty low-maintenance with my cookie preferences: peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle…I’ll take ’em all GLADLY!
Cheers to that!
YUMMY! Glad you are back to cooking/baking again!! Lots of love C
Thanks! I love being back in the kitchen. 🙂
Sounds like an awesome idea to me! Who doesn’t want booze in their cookies, that is the real question!
Baking with booze is always fun. I have baked with beer, champagne and chambord. yum!
One of my favorite parts about living in California is the food as well! We have such amazing access to local produce. I love getting locally made honey here too!
Ya know, booze in cookies is a great idea… I need to do that more often!
I tried the honey at the farmer’s market! It’s so good. Everything here is so good.
I always seem to find an excuse to cook with booze—especially when making jams. Trying to pin this recipe now. I cannot wait to try these. Keep the strange but good boozie recipes coming please.
I want to make beer jam!
I like the way you think!
Oh yum, these sound delicious!! I think the booze makes me more inclined to eat these cookies. 🙂
We really should be related.