“And every day when I’ve been good,
I get an orange after food.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
ORANGE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Orange Shortbread Christmas cookies from the ‘Great Big Cookie Book’…crispy, buttery & just right on sweetness. Its the orange zest that adds a burst of fresh flavour to this shortbread. Its amazing how much of a difference natural flavours can make to food!
The orange before it lost its zest!
The recipe is quite similar to the Lime Shortbread Cookies one I posted a few days ago; except there are no twists to the original recipe this time, but for the shapes. If you haven’t got cookie cutters, worry not! Just cut the rolled out dough into fingers with a sharp knife, place the fingers on the tray, prick the tops with a fork & bake. Great with a cuppa tea or coffee… or wrapped as a gift. Always appreciated!!
“Shortbread…A biscuit (cookie) rich in butter, which is served with tea and its traditionally eaten at Christmas and New Year. Originating from Scotland and traditionally made with oatmeal, it is now made with wheat flour…Shortbread is usually baked in a large round and served cut from the centre into triangles; it is a relic of the ancient New Year cakes that were symbols of the sun.”
Ingredients:
Butter – 1/2 cup (room temperature)
Castor Sugar – 5 tbsps
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Flour- 1 1/2 cups
Extra castor sugar for sprinkling
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease 2 baking sheets.
- Beat the butter & sugar till creamy & soft.I do this by hand.
- Beat in the orange zest. (I do this too by hand & don’t use the mixer at all for this recipe).
- Gradually add the flour and gently pull the dough in together to form a soft ball.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2 ” thickness ( for sandwich cookies I roll to a 1/4 ” thickness).
- Put on the baking sheet,sprinkle with castor sugar, & bake for about 20 minutes till golden brown.
- Remove to a cookie rack to cool. Drizzle with melted chocolate if you like.
- Makes about 2-3 dozen.
I love the chocolate drizzle. It makes it very festive.
Orange and chocolate are a brilliant flavor combination. Theses] star shape treats will be a merry addition to Eat Christmas Cookies. Many thanks for sweetening my day, Deeba. And good luck on winning Sherry Yard’s cookbook. -Susan
Your family is such a lucky family for all the goodies baked so fresh and warm from the oven.
The orange flavor sounds so great! And it must be so subtle and perfect coming right from the rind.