Sparkling Cranberry Gems

This is one of those cookies that deserves a special spot in any cookie arsenal. It certainly has a place in mine. In the “About” section, I write about spending time with my grandmother during the summers of my youth, preparing for entering our baked goods in our county fair.

Well, in 2008, this darling of a cookie earned me a lovely blue ribbon for my county fair collection. But beyond that, it took one of the most coveted prizes of all– the Grand Champion Cookie award– a beautiful, big, bold purple ribbon. How does one earn such a prize? It’s simple. You bake the best cookie. The judge(s) take the winning cookie from each category (drop, rolled, bar, n0-bake, etc.) and then decide who the overall cookie winner will be. In 2008? That winner was me, with this beautiful Sparkling Cranberry Gem from KAF. It was especially gratifying for me, not only because my husband was there, observing the judging with me (and what was a rather large crowd, I must say), but because this cookie beat out about 65-70 other cookies for the title. The cookie category is the most popular.

I look forward to entering the fair this year as the 2009 defending champion.

Before we begin, some notes:

Because it is important to just barely brown this cookie, I highly recommend baking this with a silpat or parchment paper. Also, you cannot use granulated white sugar in place of coarse white sugar. It just won’t work.

This cookie will mix and look like it’s just a mess of crumbles (as seen in the photo below). It’s supposed to be that way. Have faith that it will come together.

Cookies
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, packed
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
3 tablespoons milk

Coating
1/3 cup (3 ounces) coarse white sparkling sugar

Place the flour and dried cranberries in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cranberries are coarsely shredded. Imagine a single dried cranberry cut into about 4 pieces: that’s your goal.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Whisk together the flour/cranberry mixture, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the vanilla and butter, mixing until the butter is thoroughly distributed, but some pea-sized chunks still remain. Dribble in the milk while mixing; the dough will become cohesive.

Crumbly Dough

Place the coarse sugar and tart and sour flavor in a jar, and shake to combine thoroughly. Pour the sugar into a roomy plastic bag; about 1/2-gallon size should do.

Using a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop the dough by 1 3/4-teaspoonfuls (about 1 ¼” balls) into the bag, 6 or 8 at a time. Close the top of the bag, and gently shake to coat the balls with sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, and use the bottom of a glass to flatten them to about ¼” thick (about 1 ½” in diameter). Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 16 to 17 minutes, until they’re set and barely, BARELY beginning to brown around the very edge; the tops shouldn’t be brown at all. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.

Enjoy!