Butter cookies. My heart skips a beat just hearing the name. These rich, butter laden cookies became a part of my holiday family tradition long before I knew what "loaded with butter" or "diet" meant. It's hard not to indulge in two or three; their rich sweetness is both tempting and dangerous. My take on the classic butter cookie involves a fruity mixture that complement each other very well. The sweetness of orange and the tartness of cranberries, round out the richness of the traditional butter cookie in this easy recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup fine granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 large orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

Method
1 Beat butter, sugar, and egg until smooth.

2 Add salt, orange zest, and vanilla, mix until incorporated.

3 Gradually add flour until dough becomes thick. Using your hands may be necessary.

4 Mix in dried cranberries until evenly distributed throughout dough.

5 Roll dough into a log shape, wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until cold.

6 Preheat oven to 350C. Using a sharp knife cut dough into rounds. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies are slightly brown around the outside.

7 Place cookies in a wax paper lined cookie tin. Perfect for giving this holiday season.