White chocolate cranberry pistachio cookie brittle is the perfect sweet and salty treat for the holiday season and your christmas party. This brittle is loaded with white chocolate chips, dried tart cranberries, and crunchy pistachios and drizzled in white chocolate. This makes for an irresistible combination of flavors and textures and is the perfect cookie to leave for Santa!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Delicious combination: White chocolate's creamy sweetness pairs perfectly with cranberries' tartness and the salty nuttiness of pistachios. Every bite offers a delightful contrast of textures and flavors.
- Festive and seasonal: Red cranberries and green pistachios are classic holiday flavors, making this brittle perfect for any holiday gathering and also for cookie swaps.
- Simple to make: This recipe requires only a handful of ingredients and minimal equipment, making it ideal for bakers of all levels or anyone short on time. You don't even need to use an electric mixer in this recipe.
- Portable and shareable: Break this delightful cookie brittle into pieces for a quick snack or dessert, making it perfect for potlucks, picnics, or stocking stuffers. In addition, the vibrant colors of the dried cranberries and salty pistachios against the white chocolate create a stunning and festive look, ideal for gift-giving or dessert platters.
Simple Ingredients for a Festive Treat
- For the Basic Cookie Brittle: For the basic recipe for cookie brittle, you need unsalted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, and fine sea salt.
- For the Festive Taste and Colors: Red, white, and green are festive holiday colors. The red dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and green pistachios come together in a delicious combination of taste and color. Use good quality white chocolate chips in this recipe. For the dried cranberries, I used Craisins.
Simple Steps to Making the Brittle Dough
This white chocolate, cranberry, and pistachio brittle recipe requires minimal steps for maximum flavor.
- I started by melting the unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. It's not really necessary to cut the butter into pieces like I did. However, with the pieces, the butter melts more quickly.
- I allowed the butter to cool for about 15 minutes. Then, I added the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. I whisked the ingredients together until they were thick and well combined.
- To the melted butter mixture, I added the flour and stirred everything together with a wooden spoon just until the flour was incorporated.
- Finally, I added the white chocolate chips, dried cranberries I had coarsely chopped, and nutty pistachios I had coarsely chopped. I stirred everything together until all the ingredients were well incorporated.
Forming and Finishing the Cookie Brittle
Once the cookie brittle dough was ready, I dumped it onto a large, ungreased cookie sheet with sides. Greasing the cookie sheet or using parchment paper is unnecessary. I know the dough doesn't look very cohesive at this point, but don't worry!
Then, I spread the cookie dough over the baking sheet. I used my hands to press it into a firm, even layer.
I baked the cranberry pistachio cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for about 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, the cookie brittle was a light golden brown and perfectly cooked.
I removed the white chocolate cranberry cookies from the oven. I placed it on a wire rack to allow the cookie brittle to cool completely.
Once the cookie brittle was completely cooled, Susan drizzled the top with melted white chocolate to add a festive touch.
After the drizzled white chocolate had hardened, I moved to the fun part of breaking the cookie brittle into bite-size pieces.
To say that this classic holiday cookie was delicious was an understatement.
Overall, the white chocolate cranberry pistachio brittle was a delightful and easy-to-make treat with a unique flavor combination, beautiful presentation, and versatility for any occasion. It's certain to become your new holiday favorite. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
White chocolate is classic in this recipe. However, feel free to substitute milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or even dark chocolate for a different flavor profile. Just keep in mind that the sweetness level and color will change.
Walnuts, almonds, pecans, or even cashews can be substituted for the pistachios. Also, you could substitute chopped dried cherries or pomegranate seeds for the cranberries.
Roasting the pistachios intensifies their flavor, so I would recommend that you roast the pistachios. However, the pistachios that I used were already roasted and salted.
It's best to store the cookie brittle in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week if it lasts that long. You can also freeze it for up to three months. The Master Taste Tester thinks that the flavor actually improves over time!
White chocolate cranberry pistachio brittle makes a beautiful and tasty homemade gift. I like to package it in clear cellophane bags or boxes with festive ribbons.
Other Festive Holiday Cookies
If you're looking for other sweet treats and festive cookie recipes to make during the holiday season look no further.
- Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
- Toasted Pecan Snowball Cookies (Classic Christmas Cookie)
- Belgian Spice Cookies (Speculoos)
- Easy Fudgy Slutty Christmas Brownies: Indulge in the Ultimate Seduction
- Butter Cookies
- Almond and Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
- Traditional Austrian Linzer Cookies
- Classic Holiday Gingerbread Men
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White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Cookie Brittle
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 ounces, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ¾ cups plus 2 Tablespoons (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (4 ½ ounces) white chocolate chips
- ½ cup (2 ounces) dried cranberries, coarsely chopped (See Tip 1)
- ¾ cup (3 ¼ ounces) shelled, roasted and salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons white chocolate chips melted for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Have an ungreased half-sheet pan (roughly 12 x 17 inches) ready for the cookie brittle. (See Tip 2)
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Add sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to melted and cooled butter. Whisk together until the mixture thickens. Add flour. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula just until combined.
- Add the white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and pistachios; stir to combine. Pour onto an ungreased rimmed baking sheet. Press into a thin, even layer. (See Tip 3)
- Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 24 to 25 minutes or until a light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely. Break into bite-sized pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- If desired, drizzle with melted white chocolate. Allow the chocolate to harden
- Break into bite-sized pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Yield: 14 servings.
Video
Tips/Notes
- I used Craisins.
- It is unnecessary to grease the cookie sheet or use parchment paper in this recipe.
- Be sure to compact the brittle dough when pressing it into a thin layer to ensure that the cookie brittle stays together when cooked.
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