Tag: orange cookies

Italian Orange Cookies

italianorangecookiesI don’t know what makes these cookies Italian, but according to Marisa’s Italian Kitchen, they are. They’re also delicious, very soft and tender with a nice crunchy sugar coating. The original recipe called for rolling them in both granulated sugar and powdered sugar, but I just went with granulated.

I think I should have chilled my dough for longer, because while Marisa’s cookies were more sturdy-looking, mine spread a bit when they baked. I suspect they would be good as sandwich cookies, maybe with some chocolate ganache between the layers. I might still do that, add a dark chocolate ganache – because chocolate and orange are really good flavor friends. You could also fill them with a vanilla buttercream for more of a creamcicle vibe…so maybe next time. Stay tuned.

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • zest from 1 medium orange
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Additional granulated sugar, for rolling

Preparation

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolk, and beat to combine, then add orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla and beat well. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and beat to combine completely. Cover and chill for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place sugar in a small bowl for rolling; set aside.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop scant balls of dough – you want them to be about the size of a gumball. Roll into balls, then coat in sugar. Place on the baking sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes, then edges are just golden. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 22.

Orange Crisps

Some treats happen by accident, like these orange crisps. I meant to make an orange cream version of my vanilla bean sandwich cookies, but I slightly over-baked the cookies themselves. They turned out too thin and crispy to sandwich, but that’s actually okay – they taste delicious, so they can stand on their own.

Very crispy on the edges, but also slightly chewy on the inside, these cookies have a great texture and wonderful orange flavor. Mike decided he’s keeping them for himself, rather than taking them to work. Don’t feel bad for his coworkers, though – I’m going to bake something else this afternoon for them. Likely something else involving orange zest, now that I have a semi-bald orange in my refrigerator.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 10 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
  • About 1 teaspoon orange zest (1/3 of the orange)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and kosher salt; set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add egg, vanilla extract, orange extract, and orange zest and beat on medium speed until smooth.

With the mixer running on low, gradually add flour mixture.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart – they spread quite a bit.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until tops are very light golden and just set.

Cool on baking sheets for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Makes 40.

Orange Blossoms

Last week I bought some Cara Cara oranges for Mike’s favorite orange almond cake, a sweeter, seedless variety of the navel orange. I’d really wanted Valencia oranges but couldn’t find them, and figured the Cara Cara would make a good substitute. The leftover oranges (well, their juice and zest) went into these orange blossom cookies, a wonderful recipe from King Arthur Flour.

You’ve likely had cookies like this before, perhaps from the cookie table at a Pittsburgh-area wedding. They’re soft and cakey, with just enough icing on top to enhance the flavor. I chose to bake smaller cookies than the recipe originally called for and used a one-inch cookie scoop, and also increased my icing quantity just a bit to make sure I had enough to cover them all. The end result is absolutely delicious, and one that could be easily adapted for other citrus flavors, like lemon or lime.

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • zest from 2 oranges*
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
  • 2 cups flour

For the icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • zest from 1 orange*
  • 4-5 tablespoons orange juice

*Cara Cara oranges are smaller than regular navel oranges; you can get about 1 tablespoon of zest from each one. If you’re using regular navel oranges in this recipe, you’ll have a bit more zest than you need. Zest yields a stronger flavor, so you can adjust how much you use based on your own tastes. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, then orange juice and zest, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and fiori di Sicilia. The dough will look clumpy and kind of curdled, but that’s okay – add the flour and beat to combine, and the dough will smooth out. The end result will be kind of fluffy dough.

Using a one-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet about halfway through baking, until the edges are just golden. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 1-2 minutes, then place on wire racks to cool completely.

Once cookies are cool, make the icing: beat butter, powdered sugar, and orange zest on low, then medium speed, for 1-2 minutes. Add orange juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, to reach a spreadable consistency. Frost cookies and allow them to set before serving. Store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes about 40 cookies.