Orange Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you substitute orange juice for orange zest? ›

There are many options for orange zest substitutes if you're out of this delicious citrus fruit or if they aren't in season. Some options include orange juice, lemon juice or zest, grapefruit juice or zest, and lime juice or zest.

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

A teaspoon or two of extracts will noticeably boost flavor when blended into your sugar cookie mix. Vanilla is the obvious choice. For a more intriguing flavor, add both vanilla and almond extracts. Rum, maple and anise are other delicious varieties to consider.

Butter contributes milk solids and water to a cookie, both of which soften it. Brown sugar contributes molasses – again, a softener. Using lower-moisture sugar (granulated) and fat (vegetable shortening), plus a longer, slower bake than normal, produces light, crunchy cookies.

The flavor is not as concentrated so expect to use more orange juice to get the orange flavor. 1 teaspoon of orange zest = 2 tablespoons of orange juice.

Melted butter incorporates more easily into the dough, creating a more cohesive and pliable dough. Use a mixture of baking powder and baking soda as leavening agents. Baking powder provides lift and helps create a fluffy texture, while baking soda helps to densify the cookie and create a chewier texture.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

Cookies Made with Butter vs Shortening

Those made with only shortening bake higher and spread less during baking. The butter cookie provides better flavor and a crispier exterior with browning around edges and a chewy interior; the shortening cookie spreads less, holding its shape better while baking.

Spices: Experiment with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger to give your cookies a warm and aromatic quality. These spices can complement the sweetness of the dough. Extracts: Besides vanilla, consider using other extracts like almond, coconut, or maple for unique and flavorful cookies.

Caramel or regular popcorn, salty potato chips, and pretzels are especially good ideas; just break up any large pieces by roughly crushing them as you add them to the dough. It might be old hat by now, but it's still true: Salt makes cookies taste better.

Why do you put vinegar in cookies? ›

King Arthur Flour says the purpose of the vinegar is to temper the sweetness of the sugar and it also reacts with the baking soda to allow the cookies to rise a bit more in the oven. Who knew, eh? So try it–you'll be surprised how it perfectly balances the taste.

Lemon juice carries the same flavor as lemon zest, but it's more acidic, so you might want to add a pinch of sugar to balance out the tartness. That said, the lemon flavor is not as concentrated as lemon zest, so you'll want to keep this formula handy: 1 teaspoon of lemon zest = 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Use 2 tablespoons of fresh or bottled lemon juice to replace 1 teaspoon of lemon zest in the recipe.