The Ultimate Orange Cookies Food

ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the buttermilk, eggs, orange juice and zest. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. , Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. , For icing, combine the confectioners' sugar, orange extract and enough orange juice to achieve desired consistency. Spread over cooled cookies.

FRESH ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine sugar and 1 cup margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and eggs; blend well. Add all remaining cookie ingredients; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake at 375°F. for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl, blend all frosting ingredients until smooth, adding enough orange juice for desired spreading consistency. Frost warm cookies.

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH ITALIAN ICED ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 1 minutes until well combined. Turn mixer to medium-low speed and add in egg (make sure it's at room temp -- you can do this by running the egg under warm water for 1 min); beating until well combined, smooth and creamy into the butter and sugar. Next beat in the orange juice, zest and almond extract for about 30 more seconds.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix together on medium speed until combined.
• Drop about one heaping tablespoon full of dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. You should end up with 14-16 cookies. Bake for 10-13 minutes until just barely golden brown on the edges.
• Remove and allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
• To make the icing: Once cookies have cooled, make the icing: add the powdered sugar, orange juice, zest, melted butter and softened cream cheese to a bowl. A drop of almond extract is also delicious in the icing, but please only do one drop if you'd like. Dip the top of the cookies in the icing then place back on the wire rack to allow icing to harden. Garnish with a little extra orange zest to make them pretty. Makes about 14-16 cookies.

CHOCOLATE-ORANGE COOKIE STACKS

Steps:

• Using electric mixer, beat cream and orange juice concentrate in medium bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Place 8 cookies on rimmed baking sheet, spacing apart. Spoon about 1 level tablespoon whipped orange cream atop each cookie, then top each with second cookie and another tablespoon cream. Repeat 2 more times with cookies and cream, creating 8 stacks of 4 cookies with 4 layers of orange cream. Top each stack with fifth cookie. Transfer remaining orange cream to small bowl; cover and chill cream. Cover and chill stacks at least 6 hours or overnight (cookies will soften).
• Carefully transfer 1 stack to each of 8 plates. Rewhisk reserved orange cream, if necessary, until stiff peaks form. Spoon dollop of orange cream atop each stack, sprinkle with grated orange peel, and serve.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter with an electric whisk until it is light and fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar a little at a time, adding the orange zest and 1 tbsp orange juice. Beat in the flour and cocoa a little at a time, then mix in the chocolate and orange peel and 1-2 tbsp milk.
• Divide the mixture into two, pat each into a rough log shape on a piece of non-stick wrap or baking parchment, then use the wrap to help you shape each piece into a log around 15cm long. Chill until firm, about 2 hrs (see tip, below).
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets. Cut ½cm-thick cookies from the dough and lay them on the baking sheets, leaving space so they can puff up and spread. Put a piece of sugared candied orange on top of each. Bake for 10-15 mins or until the cookies are puffed. Cool on the sheets for a couple of mins before sliding them onto a wire rack. Will keep for two to three days in an airtight container.

ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Crack in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Pour in the vanilla, the juices, and the zest, and beat to combine. Turn the mixer off, pour in the flour mixture, and mix on low just to combine. Wrap the dough in plastic, and let rest in refrigerator 1 hour.
• Roll the dough into four logs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 10 to 12 inches long. Chill or freeze the logs for 20 minutes, until firm enough to cut without losing their shape.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the logs into 1/2-inch rounds, and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Place in oven, and bake until the cookies are golden, about 15 minutes. Remove, and cool the cookies completely on wire racks.
• To glaze the cookies: Sift confectioners' sugar into a bowl, and whisk in the orange juice to make a smooth glaze. Dip a cookie in the glaze; it should stick to the cookie in a thin layer. If not, adjust the consistency of glaze with more juice or confectioners' sugar. Dip the top of the baked cookies in glaze, and let dry on wire racks.

ORANGE CARDAMOM COOKIES

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Whisk together flour, zest, cardamom, and salt.
• Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in yolk and cream. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Quarter dough and form each piece into a 6-inch disk, then chill, wrapped separately in plastic wrap, until firm, 2 to 3 hours.
• Cut and bake cookies:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough between sheets of parchment paper into an 11-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Slide dough in parchment onto a tray and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Cut out as many cookies as possible with cookie cutter (chill dough again if necessary), reserving and chilling scraps. Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined large baking sheet, arranging them 1 inch apart.
• Bake until edges are golden-brown, 9 to 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then slide cookies, still on parchment, onto a rack to cool completely.
• Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) on cooled freshly lined baking sheets.
• If icing cookies and coloring icing, transfer small batches to small bowls, 1 for each color, and tint with food coloring. Spoon each color of icing into separate sealable bags, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 bottom corner of each bag. Pipe icing onto a plate to test consistency. If too thick, thin a small batch with a few drops of orange juice.
• Decoratively pipe icing onto cookies, then sprinkle with decorative sugar (if using) and let dry completely, about 1 hour (depending on humidity).