Italian Almond Orange Cookies Food

ITALIAN ALMOND-ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix egg whites, sugar, orange zest and honey with a whisk until smooth.
• Add the almond flour and baking powder and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until moist and all of the dry ingredients are absorbed into the wet and combined.
• Cover and refrigerate for one hour and as long as 24 hours. I made my dough the night before then baked the next morning.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees F with two racks in top two positions.
• Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl.
• Roll the dough on your counter with your hands into a fat log and cut it into two equal pieces.
• Roll each piece out into logs and cut in half then each piece in half again. Then cut each piece into three. This will give you 24 pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball then roll in the powdered sugar then onto the cookie sheets, 12 per tray.
• Bake both together for 15-17 minutes, rotating the pans half way through.
• The cookies are done when they start to crackle and flatten out and are slightly browned on the bottom. The centers will be very soft so don't go by the feel of the cookie and don't lift off the cookie sheet yet.
• As they cool on the cookie sheet, they stiffen up and have a crisp outside and a chewy center.
• Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.

ORANGE-ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400. In medium bowl, beat butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 1/2 t. orange peel and 1 t. almond extract with mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in flour, salt and almonds until well blended.
• Shape dough into 1 inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls 1 inch apart. Bake 7-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets to wire racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In small bowl, stir all glaze ingredients, adding enough water to make a pouring consistency. In another small bowl, mix topping ingredients. Dip tops of cookies in glaze, then sprinkle with topping. Place cookies in miniature paper baking cups if desired.

ALMOND ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenhet.
• Whisk the shortening in a large bowl until light and aerated. Use an electric mixer if possible.
• Gradually beat in the granulated sugar.
• Grate the rind of the orange onto a plate and squeeze juice into a cup. Be careful to remove any seeds from the juice.
• Whisk the eggs, orange rind and orange juice into the shortening mixture and continue for 3 to minutes after combined.
• Sift flour together with baking powder in a separate bowl.
• Stir the flour mixture and almonds into the shortening mixture until it forms a dough.
• Lightly flour a flat surface and roll out the dough until it's about 1/2-inch thick.
• Use a round cookie cutter to cut out 36 round cookies and place them on baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F until golden.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool and firm on baking sheets for about 10 minutes.
• Mix confectioner's sugar with cinnamon and sift this mixture evenly over the baked cookies as they cool.

ITALIAN ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cream the shortening then beat in the juice, sugar, orange extract and orange zest (mixture will appear curdled) until well combined. Blend in the eggs and beat well.
• Mix in all of the baking powder and flour, 1 cup at a time, blending well. Once you've added 6 cups of flour, add the remaining flour just until mixture can be rolled into a ball (batter will be sticky).
• Refrigerate the dough covered for several hours or even overnight.
• Fill a low dish with sifted icing sugar. Using a small cookie scoop. scoop several balls of the cold dough into a plate. Roll the cookies into a smooth ball then roll in the icing sugar. Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 " apart.
• Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, rotating the baking trays half way through the baking process. Do not overbake, cookies should be light in colour.