Cranberry Orange Almond Sugar Cookie Sandwiches
If you want to make sugar cookies that don’t spread and hold their exact shape, this is exactly the recipe for you! My recipe for sugar cookies is super easy and make the most perfectly shaped cookies, no matter what shape that would be, but you will need to keep reading to find out what’s my secret technique to make this happen! These are almond flavored and I used a bit of almond flour in the dough to make them nugh-ttier (can’t let go a good pun!). If you don’t have almond flour you can use regular flour to substitute that portion. I also used cranberry-orange jam to officially kick off the Christmas season here on the blog. Santa deserves these cookies so much!
I don’t know about you, but I struggled for a long time with sugar cookies. Even when I left the dough in the fridge for a while the first cookies would be nicely shaped but as the dough start to get warmer it will be more and more difficult to cut and remove the cookies still perfectly shaped, ending up with weird looking cookie dough pieces. It was annoying and exasperating to be honest. And I know sugar cookies made completely with confectioner’s sugar can be a bit sturdier when managing the dough, but for me their flavor is a bit unidimensional. That’s why I prefer to make sugar cookies with natural granulated sugar.
To solve the problem of cooking loosing their shape when being transfer to the baking tray or or worse, spreading when baking, I came up with this idea of freezing the dough pre-cut for 15 to 30 minutes. That’s all you need! Then you will peel off the borders of the already cut cookies and transfer them to the tray and bake immediately. This technique to cut and bake perfectly shaped cookies never fails!! And you will have hot cookies in your hands in less than 2 hours, which is a perfect Christmas bonus if you ask me!
If you have made my sugar cookies before then you already have read these tips and steps about how to make these. The only changes is that I added the bit of almond flour as mentioned before and a bit of cardamom to make them even more fragrant. If this is the first time reading my sugar cookies recipe, let me walk throughout the step of making these:
How to make this Sugar Cookies for Christmas
For this recipe it’s important that your butter is soft just enough that it yields if you poke it but is still slightly cool. Remember that the butter will keep getting warmer through the mixing processes and if it’s too warm when you start working with it, it will be almost melted at the end of the process and you definitely don't want that.
As I mentioned, I used ¼ cup of almond flour but if you don’t have some or don’t want to use it, just substitute with the all-purpose flour.
After mixing, the dough should be a bit grainy to the touch but hold together when you press it with your fingers. If you feel it’s not coming together, beat an extra minute.
Technically you can roll your dough at this point. I just appreciate what 5 to 10 minutes of chilling does to the dough. It becomes more homogeneous and has a bit more structure and for me it’s easier to work with it.
Now I set the dough on a parchment paper and place another one on top of it to roll it out. The technique of rolling the dough between two parchment papers and transferring to a baking tray is ideal to keep the dough from tearing apart. I recommend using a straight rolling pin (affiliate link) to ensure the surface of the cookies is completely flat.
Next you are going to peel off the parchment paper nd cut the cookies with your cookie cutter. At this point you are going to transfer the tray to the freezer. Freezing the rolled and cut dough is KEY to separate the cookies without hurting their shape. Freezing is also KEY in preventing the cookies from spreading when they are in the oven because we want our cookies to hold their intended shape and not like something that Mother Nature hasn't yet created! So make sure you free some space on your freezer to place your baking tray.
After cookies has been frozen you are just going to peel the dough around them. Start arranging them in the same tray or in another tray with a parchment paper or silicon mat placed on it. Leave about 1 ½” space between them. Bake them according to recipe and according to your texture preference.
Put together all the scrapes that you can because you can either make more cookies or use it later to make another batch with a different shape. They will be good to use for about a week if stored in the fridge well wrapped in parchment paper. If you already have frozen scrapes from previos batches, just let them get room temperature and and mix them with other malleable scrapes you have around.
After the cookies are baked and outside the oven, it’s SUPER IMPORTANT to leave them in the tray to cool down completely, at least 15 to 20 minutes before they are baked. If you try to remove them too quick there is a big chance they will crumble. And letting them cool down completely in the oven help in making these sugar cookies sturdy and crisp.
Have fun with fillings and decorations, even mix and match as desired. It’s Christmas after all!!!
Suggested baking times for sugar cookies
Here are my suggested baking times depending on your preferred texture:
Thinner cookies (⅛”) + chewier consistency = 8 minutes
Thinner cookies + harder consistency = 10 minutes
Thicker cookies (¼”) + chewier consistency = 10 minutes
Thicker cookies + harder consistency = up to 12 minutes
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Cranberry Orange Almond Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups
◯ Almond flour or almond meal – ¼ cup
◯ Finely grind orange zest (optional) – 1 TBSP, about the zest of one orange
◯ Baking powder – 1 Tsp
◯ Fine sea salt – ½ Tsp
◯ Cardamom (optional) - ¼ Tsp
◯ Butter, at room temperature but not too soft – 2 sticks, (16 TBSP)
◯ Natural granulated sugar – 1 ¼ cup
◯ Egg – 1
◯ Pure almond extract (you may substitute with vanilla extract) – 1 Tsp
◯ Powdered sugar for decorating
Details
Yield:
10 cookies sandwiches or 20 single cookies plus about 15 small stars
Total time:
1.5 hours, including freezing and baking times.
Active Time:
10 minutes for making the dough, 10 minutes for cutting the cookies.
Baking time:
about 10 minutes per baking tray.
Equipment:
Stand mixer or electric hand mixer, parchment paper, plastic wrap paper, baking trays, cookie cutter of choice
Steps:
(If not using pre-cut parchment paper, cut 4 pieces the size of your baking tray, which must fit in one of your freezer racks)
In a medium bowl mix the 2 ½ cups of flour, the ¼ cup of almond flour (if using), baking powder and salt with a hand whisk to break any large lumps.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment put the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat in medium speed (level 4 on the Kitchen Aid) until the mixture looks fluffy and pale, about 5 minutes. Add the egg, almond and orange extract.
Scrap the butter-sugar mixture down the bowl and beat again for 2 minutes. Scrap down again if needed. Decrease to low speed (level #1 on the Kitchen Aid), start incorporating the flour mixture, about half cup at a time (I like to use a small measuring cup and sprinkle flour through the opening of the mixer’s pouring shield.) Continue beating for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and check your dough texture. It should be a bit grainy to the touch but hold together when you press it with your fingers (see notes). Press the whole dough with your hands and wrap it with plastic paper. Chill for about 10 minutes, just to give the dough some structure but that it’s malleable.
Place the dough over a piece of parchment paper. Place another parchment paper on top and roll until the dough is between ⅛” to ¼” thick, depending on your thickness preference. Peel the top parchment paper and, if there’s any dough beyond your bottom parchment paper, cut it using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Reserve the scraps. Transfer the parchment paper to a large baking tray. Using your selected cookie cutters to cut the dough, leaving as little space as possible between shapes. Remember to make a cut out on every other cookie so you have an even number if making the sandwiches. Cut small shapes on any small dough spots if desired. Place the tray in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°.
Take out your frozen tray and peel the cookies out. For borders that are too thin or in the middle, just separate the shaped dough and arrange in the tray to have access to those areas. Reserve all excess of dough.
Quickly arrange cookies. Since they are not going to spread you can place them about 1” to 1”½ apart (If you feel they are becoming too soft, place them in the freezer again for 3 to 5 minutes). Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookie and your consistency preference (see notes). Mine were baked after 10 minutes.
Take them out of the oven and let them in the baking tray to cool down completely. With a thin spatula carefully transfer each cookie to a cooling rack.
After cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar on the tops and spread some jelly on the bottom to make the sandwiches. You may store in an air tight container for about one week or store in the fridge and let them loose the chill a few minutes before eating.
