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–+ servings

Orange Zest Sugar Cookies

baked cookies
Soft baked Orange Zest Sugar Cookies are the perfect melt in your mouth orange cookies. This baked sugar cookie recipe delivers buttery sugar cookies with soft centers, crisp edges and bursts with bright orange flavor thanks to orange juice and fresh orange zest. The perfect citrus cookie!
Heather
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 18 minutes
Serving Size 48 Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2/3 cup butter cold
  • 2/3 cup shortening room temp
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon orange extract
  • Zest of two oranges
  • Juice of 1/4 of an orange
  • 2 3/4 cup cake flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Extra sugar for rolling .. natural sugar or colored sugar works really well.. about 1/3 cup

Instructions

  • Cream together sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy.
  • Stir in your eggs one at a time and then your orange extract, orange zest and orange juice.
  • In a separate bowl, combine both of your flours, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
  • Slowly add dry ingredients in small increments to your butter mixture until all of your dry ingredients are incorporated.
  • Chill batter in the refrigerator for 1 hr or you can place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet with non-stick spray or cover in parchment paper.
  • Add 1/3 cup of sugar to a separate bowl for rolling.
  • Remove and then roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll the balls through the extra sugar.
  • Place cookies on the cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes.. no more, no less! They will seem under-cooked but trust me, they will firm up as they cool.
  • Remove from oven and let sit for 1 minute before moving the cookies to a cooling rack
  • Once cooled, store cookies in an airtight container

Notes

PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT ORANGE COOKIES

  • This is an amazing soft baked sugar cookie recipe on its own and the cookies come out chewy and soft and absolutely perfect in every way. If you do want to add a different flavor, the possibilities are endless. Almond, lemon, vanilla, peppermint... go crazy!!
  • This is a recipe that requires a bit of pre-planning. The cookie dough needs to chill. Chilling is a mandatory step. Don't skip this step or you will have flat cookies and you will be sad.
  • I add a bit of orange extract in addition to fresh orange juice and orange zest because I really want to bring out that orange flavor.  Feel free to omit the extract if you don't have it on hand.
  • Use a kitchen scoop if you have one to measure out your cookies.  Your cookies will all be the same size and it saves the hassle of guess work.
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