Einkorn Shortbread Cookies (With a Holiday Twist!)

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love shortbread. There’s just something delectable about its buttery yet light texture. Now I will admit, it’s all too easy to eat a fistful of these little einkorn shortbread cookies before you’ve even realized it–but hey, they’re wholesome, right? And it’s the holidays, after all…

These shortbread cookies are studded with fresh cranberries and are easy to make using simple, wholesome ingredients. One of those ingredients being the lovely einkorn wheat flour.

If you haven’t heard about einkorn yet, stick with me long enough, and you will.

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During the month of December, I like to double or triple this recipe and keep extra logs of dough in the fridge to pull out and bake later. Even with the addition of cranberries, the dough keeps well in the fridge for over a week.

The Perfect Christmas Cookie

It’s almost Christmas time, so I’m about to show you exactly how I make these einkorn shortbread cookies, with a special holiday twist! Of course, you can make them any time of year and omit the cranberries if they aren’t in season. They will still be delicious.

But if you’re anything like me, you probably buy a bag of cranberries in November just because they’re in season… and then December rolls around and you wonder what you’re going to do with them. To be honest, there aren’t a whole lot of things I really like to use fresh cranberries for. But for this cookie recipe, they are perfection.

The reason I prefer fresh cranberries over dried in this recipe is that I actually enjoy the tartness that they provide. Because they can be a bit of a pain to chop up, I like to use my handy-dandy food processor. You could also use a simple hand chopper like this one.

Using fresh cranberries keeps these cookies on the healthier side, which makes me enjoy serving them to my family even more. For a cookie recipe, it is pretty low in sugar!

The flecks of fresh cranberry in this cookie add not only a depth of flavor, but beauty as well. These einkorn cranberry shortbread cookies will surely make your Christmas cookie platter more aesthetic. They also store well and taste great even after a week in an airtight container.

Why Use Einkorn In Cookies?

Pretty much all of my baked goods use einkorn, sourdough, or both. Whenever my family and I eat unfermented all purpose flour, we notice that our tummies feel a little more unsettled due to its gluten and phytic acid content.

Einkorn wheat, which is the oldest wheat known to man, contains a different kind of gluten than modern wheat. Many people with gluten sensitivities find themselves able to tolerate einkorn. It’s better for the gut and high in nutrients when compared with most grains. Einkorn wheat is significantly higher in protein, antioxidants, and vitamins than modern wheat.

My favorite brand of einkorn flour is Jovial. Here are my two favorite sources to find it at an affordable price:

• Azure Standard: An amazing resource for healthy bulk ingredients–sign up here if you’re new!
• Thrive Market: This is a membership, but the prices and selection are incredible. You get 30% off your first order and they are almost always offering free gifts.

Things You May Need

There are a some kitchen supplies you will definitely need to make these einkorn shortbread cookies, and a few that you might. Here is what I like to have on hand to make these cookies with:

• Food processor
• Hand chopper
• A sharp knife
• Mixing bowl
• Stand or hand mixer
• Cutting board
• Cookie sheets
• Parchment paper or silpats

Tips For Making Einkorn Shortbread Cookies

• Make sure your butter is as soft as possible without being melted for easy mixing.
• Wait until the very end to fold in the chopped cranberries to avoid turning your cookie dough pink.
• If you have it, you can use a bamboo placemats like these to help your logs stay as round as possible. (We also love them for home sushi-making days)
• Use a very sharp knife to slice your dough to ensure it doesn’t fall apart.
• Be patient and let the cookie dough sit in the fridge long enough to really firm up. Otherwise they will fall apart when you try and slice them.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Butter: Make sure your butter is nice and soft, but not melted. I like to get my butter out the night or morning before an afternoon cookie-baking session. There’s really nothing you can substitute for real butter in this recipe–it’s what makes shortbread, shortbread.

Cane sugar: I always choose organic cane sugar for recipes like this because we do our best to avoid genetically modified foods. I’ve heard of others using honey as an even healthier alternative, but it may change the texture of the cookies slightly.

All-purpose einkorn flour: I always use this brand of einkorn flour. Make sure you use all-purpose and not the whole wheat version for this recipe.

Cranberries: Like I said, you can definitely use dried cranberries if you’d prefer, or just leave them out all together. IF you use them though, just try and chop them up as finely as you can.

Lemon zest: The combo of lemon and cranberry really makes these cookies pop. You can definitely stand to leave this out but it does enhance the flavor. If you aren’t sure on how to zest a lemon, you can check out this link. You could also substitute the lemon zest for 1/2 tsp of lemon juice.

Detailed Steps To Making Einkorn Shortbread Cookies

1. I currently do not have a stand mixer. (Gasp!) Shocker, I know, for someone who cooks and bakes as much as I do. A hand mixer works just fine for this recipe. Throw your butter and sugar in a bowl and make sure it gets well-beaten.
2. Adding the flour a little at a time will help keep flour from getting all over our kitchen. I add about 1/2 cup at a time and make sure its well-incorporated before adding more.
3. Add the chopped cranberries and lemon zest. I still use my mixer for this step, but I make sure to keep it on low and only mix until incorporated.
4. Tear out a sheet of plastic wrap, and place it on your bamboo placemats if you have them (no big deal if you don’t, you can still totally do this!). Take about half your dough, place it on the plastic wrap, and start rolling it up until it resembles a log shape.
5. Repeat step 4 with remaining dough.
6. Put the dough in the refrigerator. You can’t skip this step, or when you go to slice your cookies they will fall apart and look pretty misshapen.
7. After an hour, overnight, or even the next week, take the dough out of the fridge and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
8. Remove plastic wrap and place dough on a cutting board. Slice into 1/4 inch rounds.
9. Place the rounds on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets and bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on your desired level of crispness.
10. Let cool completely (except for the ones you can’t help but snag while they’re still warm) and store in an airtight-container.

More Healthy Baking from Growing Dawn:

Why Sourdough Starter Is The Most Amazing Natural Gut Health Food In The History of Ever

Easy Sourdough Brownies

How To Make Sourdough Gingerbread Pancakes

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