Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Orange sugar cookies: Bites of sweet sunshine

Recipe: Triple-orange sugar cookies with or without orange glaze

These triple-orange sugar cookies get an extra dose of citrus flavor with a zesty glaze.

These triple-orange sugar cookies get an extra dose of citrus flavor with a zesty glaze. Debbie Arrington

These very-orange sugar cookies taste like bites of spring sunshine: Crisp, bright and sweet.

That’s just what I need during our very wet late-winter days.

Orange juice and zest give these buttery, crisp cookies a lovely flavor. Orange or lemon extract adds one more citrus note.

Don’t overbake; these cookies crisp as they cool. They’re satisfying served plain, but the zesty, juice-based glaze intensifies the fresh orange flavor and fragrance that much more.

For this recipe, you’ll need two oranges with the glaze, one orange without.

Triple-orange sugar cookies

Makes about 40 cookies

½ cup butter or margarine

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons orange zest

1 large egg

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon orange or lemon extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ to 1/3 cup sugar for rolling

For glaze:

1/3 cup orange juice

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons orange zest

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer until softened. Beat in ¾ cup sugar and 2 tablespoons orange zest. Add egg and beat until combined. Add 1/3 cup orange juice and extract; beat until smooth.

Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture, a little at a time, beating to make a smooth dough.

Chill the dough for at least an hour, covered with plastic.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put ¼ cup sugar in a pie plate (add more sugar if needed). With two teaspoons or a melon baller, scoop dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in sugar and place 2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment-covered cookie sheet; don’t over crowd – these cookies spread. Gently press down on each ball; the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar works well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just begin to turn brown. Remove and let cool. Glaze, if desired.

Store in a sealed container.

For glaze: In a saucepan, combine 1/3 cup orange juice with 1 cup sifted powdered sugar. Stirring often, bring to a gentle boil, Cook for 1 minute. Add zest. Cool slightly. Brush over cookies.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.
RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Local News

Ad for California Local

Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 2

During this stormy week, let the rain soak in while making plans for all the things you’re going to plant soon:

* During rainy weather, turn off the sprinklers. After a good soaking from winter storms, lawns can go at least a week without sprinklers, according to irrigation experts. For an average California home, that week off from watering can save 800 gallons.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!