At a glance

Use chopped dried cranberries and fresh orange zest for Cape Cod–inspired slice-and-bake shortbread. Chill the dough for an hour, then bake the rounds until the rims are lightly golden. Add any measured THC oil to the glaze for one cooled cookie.

Cape Cod Cranberry-Orange Shortbread

Ingredients & directions

Slice-and-bake cranberry shortbread

Ingredients

Shortbread

Orange glaze

Use parchment-lined sheet pans and a sharp thin knife. Chop the cranberries smaller than a pea so the knife can pass through the dough without dragging.

Directions

  1. Orange zest rubbed into powdered sugar beside softened butter for the shortbread dough

    Work the zest into the butter

    Rub the orange zest into the ½ cup powdered sugar with your fingertips. Beat it with the softened butter, vanilla and salt just until creamy. Mix in the flour on low until the dough starts to clump. Fold in the dried cranberries and press the dough together.

  2. Two cranberry-studded shortbread dough logs on parchment before chilling

    Roll and chill

    Shape two logs, each about 4½ inches long and 1¾ inches wide. Wrap them and chill for 1 hour. Roll the logs once or twice during the first 15 minutes if you want to keep the bottoms round.

  3. Thin cranberry shortbread rounds cut from a chilled log and spaced on a lined pan

    Slice and bake

    Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Cut each log into 12 equal rounds, about ⅜ inch thick. Space them 1 inch apart on lined pans. Bake 16 to 18 minutes, until the rims barely color. Let the cookies cool 5 minutes on the pans and at least 15 minutes on a rack.

  4. A spoon drizzles thin orange glaze over one cooled shortbread cookie

    Glaze after cooling

    Stir 1 tbsp orange juice into the remaining powdered sugar. Add more juice a few drops at a time until the glaze falls from the spoon in a narrow ribbon. For an optional infused cookie, mix the individually measured edible oil into the small amount of glaze for one cookie, then transfer it to that one cookie on a labeled plate. Glaze the remaining cookies separately.

Storage Store cooled plain cookies airtight for up to 5 days. Add the optional measured glaze to an individual cookie just before serving.

Kitchen notes

Slice clean rounds and keep the crumb tender

Why dried cranberries?

Fresh cranberries shed moisture into this low-moisture dough. Finely chopped dried fruit gives it pockets of tartness and makes the logs easier to slice.

What if the chilled log cracks when cut?

Let it sit for 5 minutes, then slice with a thin blade. Press any cracked edge together on the pan before baking.

Can I make the dough ahead?

Refrigerate wrapped logs up to 2 days or freeze them well wrapped for up to a month. Thaw in the refrigerator before slicing.

Use the product label

Estimate THC in a portion

Measure the optional oil for the glaze on one cookie. Leave the main bowl of glaze plain. Use the same unit for the label amount and the amount used.

Enter the label values and the amount you used.

The result estimates the THC added to that portion from the product label. Keep infused portions labeled and secured.

THC in one portion = label THC (mg) × amount used ÷ label amount.

A label listing 2 mg THC per 1 mL gives an estimated 1 mg on one cookie if you use 0.5 mL in its glaze.

Use a labeled edible product for a consenting legal-age adult where permitted. If you are new to edibles, Health Canada suggests choosing 2.5 mg THC or less. Full effects can take up to 4 hours. Keep infused servings separate, labeled and locked away from children and pets.

Recipe and safety references