This Cranberry Orange Tart has a smooth, cream cheese filling flavored with dried cranberries and fresh orange zest in a soft cookie-like shell.
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I am a pie and tart girl. I will take them over cake any day. I love to take a simple tart base recipe and have been experimenting with fun and new flavors. Cranberry and orange are such a great flavor combination, and I love to use them especially during the holiday season. Both fruits bring just enough sweetness balanced by a little tartness, it is just perfect! And I am a huge citrus fan so anything with a tangy, fresh citrus taste is delicious. By using dried cranberries, you get the same great flavor without being too tart and without introducing too much moisture. I also like a good amount of filling, so I like to double the filling portion of the recipe below. This is especially helpful if you use the larger tart shells like 12″ rounds.
This crust is like a really soft sugar cookie, so it crumbles easily but also just melts when you eat it. For a firm, crunchy crust like a hard cookie, use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar. I made a few different tarts at the same time, and this one was the favorite from most because of its balance between sweet and tart. It holds over well in the refrigerator, too, so it is great to make in advance. I love to use a rectangle tart pan which you can find here! Square, long skinny rectangles, or the traditional circle pan shapes also work.
Find more holiday recipe inspiration here,cranberry recipes here, and dessert recipes here!
Cranberry Orange Tart
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened, but into 1 Tablespoon chunks
- 1 orange
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup sugar (granulated)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries (plus more for decorating)
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips (plus more for decorating)
Instructions
- Zest the orange. You need two teaspoons of zest total. Set aside as you can use the orange segments to decorate with.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Using a food processor, combine the powdered sugar, flour, butter, and 1 teaspoon of orange zest. Blend just until the mixture forms a ball.
- Press the dough into the sides and bottom of a 9-10 inch tart pan. Pat to make the crust even.
- Bake the crust until it is just starting to lightly brown, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Make the filling by adding the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and additional 1 teaspoon orange zest in a small bowl. Beat until smooth. Mix in the dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
- When the crust is cooled, spoon the cream cheese mixture into the tart shell and spread out evenly. It is important that the crust is cool so that the filling does not melt from the heat.
- Decorate with additional dried cranberries, white chocolate, orange zest, and orange segments as desired. Chill until ready to serve.
