My last bit of beach-themed baking included these creamsicle starfish cut-out cookies, using orange zest and an awesome ingredient called fiori di sicilia. It’s a potent citrus-vanilla type of extract, which I always buy from King Arthur Baking. A little goes an incredibly long way; you can use an eye dropper to add it, but I just used my 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon. In any case, it’s absolutely delicious.

I do wish I’d made my icing more orange in color – these starfish are a little more pale than I’d like. But the flavor was delicious, and something I’ll make again; I’d also like to make lemon sugar cookies, so stay tuned for those. Maybe even in the shape of lemons!

Ingredients

For the cookie dough

• 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 medium orange
• Scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia

For the frosting

• 1 egg white
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Dash of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
• 1-2 teaspoons water

Preparation

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla extract, orange zest, fiori di sicilia, and about half the flour mixture, beating until combined; beat in remaining flour. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic; chill for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil or parchment paper.

Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into star shapes, then place on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies are cool, make the icing. Combine egg white, shortening, salt, and one cup powdered sugar in a mixing bowl.  Beat on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium, then high, and beat for one minute.

Add additional cup powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed for one minute. Add vanilla extract and fiori di sicilia.  Beat on high speed for one or two minutes, until very well combined.

Check the frosting’s texture; it should be like very, very soft peanut butter and very easily spreadable.  If necessary, add one to two teaspoons of water to thin the frosting and beat well to combine. Reserve about 1/4 cup frosting for starfish accents and tint the remainder orange.

Frost the cookies with the orange icing, then fit a piping bag with a small plain tip and add details. Allow icing to set before storing between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.