How to make
Oven - 360°F (180°C).
A flat tray covered with baking paper.
In a food processor/blender, grind the cranberries and 1/4 of the sugar until crumbly.
Mix the flour with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and add cubes of butter on top. The mixture is made into crumbs, very fine. Add the almond essence, cranberries with sugar, grated orange peel and orange juice.
Knead the dough by hand until the ingredients are combined. Form into a roll, which is about 5 cm in diameter. Wrap it in cling film and leave it in the refrigerator for 2 to 72 hours.
The chilled dough is cut into slices, which are about 6 mm thick. Each slice is rolled in granulated sugar and arranged at a distance from each other in a tray covered with baking paper.
The biscuits are baked at 360°F (180°C) for about 12-14 minutes, or until the edges have slightly browned.
Remove them from the oven, leave them in the tray for about 10 minutes and remove and place them onto a wire rack.
The Christmas biscuits are kept completely chilled in a box or glass jar. They have a long shelf life, about 3-4 weeks.
Note: After removing the cooled roll, I cut it into slices with a knife. When cutting, the slice gets slightly crushed and I didn't like it, so I shaped each one and cut it with a metal mold (optional).
The rest of the dough I gathered again, shaped and cut it again.