Indulge in a cookie that's as pretty as it is delicious. These soft, buttery Orange Cookies are infused with the unique floral sweetness of blood orange and topped with a vibrant glaze for a sophisticated treat that stands out from the ordinary.
Why you'll love these orange cookies
- These buttery and cake-y cookies are infused with the sweetness of blood orange without it being overpowering - offering something a little different from the usual cookies you're used to enjoying over the holidays.
- Like any other buttery sugar cookie, these blood orange cookies are super simple to make, using typical cookie ingredients that you likely already have at home.
- The tangy Greek yogurt helps to create that irresistible cake-like texture while also balancing the sweetness of the glaze and blood orange juice.
- These blood orange cookies are easy to adapt, even though I think they're perfect as they are! Add nuts for crunch, white chocolate chips for decadence, or swap the powdered sugar glaze for a white chocolate drizzle.
Jump to:
What actually are these blood orange cookies?
Sometimes the best recipes are born from happy accidents in the kitchen. I'd fully intended to make these cookies with ricotta, but when I opened the container, it had other plans! I improvised with Greek yogurt instead, and the result was even better than I imagined. These cookies are delightfully light and cake-y, basically the perfect elegant treat to enjoy with a cup of afternoon tea. They're not too sweet, allowing the lovely floral scent and unique flavor of the blood orange to truly shine. While traditional ricotta cookies rely on lemon for tartness, the natural tang of the Greek yogurt provides the perfect counterpoint to the blood orange's inherent sweetness. It was a perfect substitution that created a wonderfully balanced and sophisticated cookie, offering a fresh and vibrant alternative to the usual cookies enjoyed over the holidays.
Ingredients
For the cookie you will need:
- All-purpose flour: Spoon and level to avoid overly dense and dry cookies. Gluten-free flour blend can be used instead, if needed.
- Baking powder: This leavening agent helps the cookies to rise, preventing overspreading while baking.
- Salt: Enhances and balances the flavors in these cookies. Reduce by half if you use salted butter in the cookie dough.
- Butter: Preferably unsalted for better control of the flavor of these cookies. Allow the butter to soften at room temperature to cream easily with the sugar. Omit the salt in this recipe if you are using salted butter.
- Granulated sugar: Provides sweetness and a crispy exterior to these blood orange cookies.
- Zest: I've added the zest of a blood orange to the cookie dough mixture for texture and greater depth of orange flavor.
- Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature for easy mixing.
- Greek yogurt: The yogurt creates a soft, tender, and cake-like texture with a pleasant tanginess that cuts the sweetness and enhances the blood orange flavor. Don't use regular plain yogurt as it's not thick enough. A great substitute for Greek yogurt is ricotta. In fact, I originally planned to make these blood orange cookies with ricotta cheese, similar to this lemon ricotta cookie recipe!
- Blood orange juice: Blood oranges are less acidic and sweeter than regular oranges - perfect for cookies. That said, you could use freshly squeezed juice from a regular orange, if needed.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste for depth of flavor.
For the glaze you will need:
- Powdered sugar: A must-have for any sugar glaze, adding sweetness and a consistency suitable for drizzling over these cookies.
- Blood orange juice: Added to the glaze for an extra depth of blood orange flavor and to balance out the sweetness of the glaze.
- Zest: This zest is also added to the glaze - it provides a delicious pop of flavor and color!
Instructions
Make the cookie dough:
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the sugar and zest to the bowl of your stand mixer and smash together either with a fork or your fingers. This releases the oils in the zest.
- Add the butter to the blood orange sugar and beat together (with a paddle attachment) until super light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat to combine.
- Add the orange juice and extract, and beat to combine.
- Slowly add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Bake the cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet/s with parchment paper.
- Create cookie dough balls from the chilled dough using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon.
- Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet and bake on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes.
- Transfer the baked cookies to a cooling rack.
Make the glaze:
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Once the cookies are cooled, drizzle each cookie with a generous amount of glaze.
Serving
Serve these mouth-watering and buttery blood orange cookies for afternoon tea or whenever you have a craving for something soft, light, and sweet.
These orange cookies are perfect for cookie exchange parties or to simply enjoy at home with friends and family.
Tips and variations
- Storage: Once baked and glazed, these blood orange cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Due to their soft, cake-like texture, they don't have as long a shelf-life as other cookies. That said, they usually get devoured in a matter of hours in my house anyway!
- Make ahead: This cookie recipe is perfect to make ahead since the cookie dough has to be chilled for a minimum of 2 hours. Cover the bowl of your stand mixer or wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for a few days. Make sure to leave the chilled cookie dough on the counter for a bit for easier scooping. Alternatively, you can make and roll the dough into balls and freeze for up to three months. Thaw the dough balls at room temperature and bake as directed.
- Gluten-free: I haven't made these cookies gluten-free before, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with a GF flour blend that is cup-for-cup for regular flour.
- Uniform cookies: I use a small cookie scoop to scoop out the cookie dough, then roll it into balls. You could also use a tablespoon instead. Creating uniform-sized cookies means that the cookies will bake evenly at the same rate. It will also add a prettier presentation when serving these blood orange cookies.
- Cool to glaze: Make sure that the cookies are cool before drizzling with the sweet glaze or the glaze will simply run off.
- Sprinkle while wet: If you want to add any extra toppings to these cookies, such as chopped nuts or sanding sugar, do so while still wet so that it adheres to the cookies.
- Don't overmix: Mix the dough ingredients until just combined and no more or you will create dense cookies.
- Double-batched recipe: This recipe makes 30 cookies which means that you will likely need to use two baking sheets and may need to bake in batches.
- Mix-ins: For added decadence, consider folding in some white chocolate chips or buttery macadamia nuts directly to the cookie batter.
- Chocolate glaze: If you don't like a classic powdered sugar glaze, make a white chocolate glaze instead which is equally delicious. Keep the blood orange juice and zest in the mix for incredible flavor.
- Bake on the middle rack: Bake these cookies on the middle rack of your oven, one tray at a time, to promote even cooking. If you cook multiple trays on a few racks throughout the oven, the heat won't circulate adequately and your cookies will not achieve the right texture.
- Chill the dough: It's important to chill the cookie dough for at least 2 hours. This helps to solidify the buttery fat in the dough which then prevents the cookies from spreading too much while baking in the oven. You can always make the cookie dough the night before to chill for best results.
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Servings: 30 cookies
Calories: 147kcal
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- baking sheet pan
- wire whisk
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter softened one stick
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon Zest of one blood orange
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 cups greek yogurt
- 4 tablespoon blood orange juice or use regular if that is all that's available
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon blood orange juice
- 2 teaspoon Zest from one blood orange
Instructions
To make the cookies
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or use a hand mixer if that's what you have) pour in your sugar and your zest. Using your fingers or a fork smash together the sugar and the zest - this will release all the flavorful oils in the zest. Add the butter to the blood orange sugar and using the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until super light and fluffy - give it a few good minutes. Add your eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Then add the orange juice and the vanilla and beat to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat on low until just incorporate - don't overmix or you'll have a tough cookie. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the chilled dough, using a tablespoon or a small cookie scoop onto the parchment. Bake on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes. They should just start to look a little golden on the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool.
To make the glaze
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until smooth.
- Drizzle each cooled cookie with a good amount of glaze.
Notes
These cookies don't keep terribly long, but can be kept in a container for up to three days.
Nutrition
Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Fat: 4g
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Unicorn says
Where in the recipe do I use the Greek yogurt? It's in the ingredients list, but not in the actual steps for baking.