White Chocolate, Pistachio and Cranberry Cookie Wreaths

With only three more sleeps till Christmas its getting toward the business end of holiday preparation.  Whether you're looking for a last minute baked gift, something to enjoy with a peppermint hot coco or simply for some cookies to leave out for Santa, I've got you covered. These white chocolate pistachio and cranberry wreaths are relatively quick and easy and best of all they taste delicious!!

White chocolate is a favourite of mine so it was an easy choice for the topping and also saved the time and hassle of preparing icing, just melt, dunk and you're done. The sprinkling of dried cranberry and pistachios add a lovely flavour to the cookies and in red and green are the prefect colours for Christmas.

White Chocolate, Pistachio and Cranberry Cookie Wreaths (printable recipe)

225 grams salted butter (softened)

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup white chocolate melts
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup dried cranberries

To make the Cookies- Cream together the butter and icing sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, continue beating until well combine.

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture beating until it forms a dough.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees c. and line baking trays with baking paper.

Working with a 1/4 of the dough at a time, place between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut out the wreaths using a large fluted round cutter for the outside and a smaller circle, flower or star burst cutter for the middle, remove the off-cuts and continue using until all the dough is used up.

Transfer the cut cookie shapes to the lined baking tray (1 inch apart) using a knife or spatula. If the cookies are too soft to move,  place them in the freezer for a minute until they are firm enough to transfer.

Bake the cookies until they are just lightly golden, about 10 minutes. The time will vary oven to oven so keep an eye on the first tray to see how long they take. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool completely on trays.

To decorate the cookies- roughly chop the pistachios and cranberries into smaller pieces.

Pour the white chocolate drops into  microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate 20 seconds at a time until melted and smooth.

One at a time dip the tops of the wreath cookies into the white chocolate and place on a wire rack.
Before the white chocolate sets, sprinkle the cookie with a mixture of cranberries and pistachios.

Continue with the remaining cookies them place aside until the chocolate is set.

Enjoy!