• Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a couple cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Make the Cookies

• Using a food processor or by hand, chop the dried cranberries into small bits. It is OK to have a variety of sizes, it is just fine if some of the pieces are larger or even left hole.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until combined.
• Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, beat until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and beat until combined.
• Add 2 cups of the flour, the salt, and baking powder. Once combined with the butter mixture, continue to add the remaining flour ¼ cup at a time until the mixture comes together and becomes a nice doughy texture.
• You should be able to roll a ball of dough in your hand without it sticking much or at all, if you feel you have added too much flour you can add 1 Tablespoon of water or milk at a time until the right texture has been achieved.
• Add the chopped dried cranberries and give the dough a final mix to incorporate.
• Form the dough into a ball or disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes while you prepare the cranberries.
• Once the dough has chilled, remove from the fridge. Lightly flour a clean work surface that you can roll the cookie dough out on.
• Unwrap the cookie dough and place on your floured surface. Roll the dough to about ⅜” thickness. Use a 2.5” or 3” round cookie cutter to cut the disks of dough. Place the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheets leaving about 1” of space or more between each cookie.
• Bake in the preheated oven, start checking on the cookies around 12 minutes, and remove from the oven once cooked through and just a bit golden around the bottom edges. Let cool completely

Make the Sparkling Cranberries

• On a baking sheet pour 1 ½ cups of sugar, set aside.
• In a small saucepan make a simple syrup by bringing ⅓ cup of water and ⅔ cups of sugar to a boil. Let boil for a couple minutes then remove from heat.
• Pour the fresh cranberries into the syrup and stir until all of the berries are coated. Use the final ½ cup of sugar as needed to help coat the berries
• Drain excess syrup from the cranberries then roll the cranberries in the sugar on the baking sheet until covered.
• Make sure all of the berries are separated and let sit on the tray until dried.

Make the Buttercream Frosting

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add ½ cup softened butter and ⅓ cup vegetable shortening. Beat until smooth.
• Add the vanilla, almond extract, and salt, beat again until combined.
• Add in the powdered sugar, beat until smooth then add the heavy cream and beat until the frosting becomes light and airy, 3 to 5 minutes.

Assemble the Cookies

• To assemble the cookies, place the frosting into a piping bag and use an extra large round piping tip to frost the tops of the cookies with a swirl starting from the outside of the cookie moving towards the centre.
• Top each cookie with 3 sparkling cranberries.