The Cutest Orange-Almond Sugar Cookies Ever
These are the cutest Orange Almond Sugar Cookies you’ve ever seen – they are shaped like bees, flowers and pigs! I had to do something to make myself feel better as I had an unfortunate encounter with my bees on Friday and by Sunday I needed a lift. I’ll be sharing the bee story with you in a few days but today, Orange Almond Sugar Cookies.
Orange Almond Sugar Cookies are rolled and cut. Generally I’m not a fan of rolled and cut out cookies because it’s a tad messy. It was a cloudy, drizzly Sunday and I had all the time in the world. Making a mess didn’t seem to matter. I didn’t start out to make cute cut outs but when I went to find my basic round cookie cutter I was reminded of my adorable bee shaped cookie cutter, a flower one and a very, very old one shaped like a pig. Too stinkin’ cute! The pig shaped one belonged to my grandmother. He’s an antique cookie cutter but he still works just fine.
If you’ve followed me for a while you already know that orange is one of my favorite flavors, almond is a runner up. The combination seemed perfect for these simple sugar cookies. I also added fresh orange zest and juice because – well why wouldn’t I? Adding the zest to the powdered sugar glaze not only tastes yummy but looks pretty with little flecks of bright and cheerful orange popping out!
Eating the adorable and tasty, soft, not too sweet, yet flavorful cookies did cheer me up a bit. They’ve also cheered up everyone I’ve shared them with. Make them, bake them and you’ll be cheered up too!
If you want to hear about the bees I’ll be writing that story and posting it soon. I’ll leave with a clue…”bee keeping ain’t nothin’ but problem solvin'” Boy ain’t that the truth!
The Cutest Orange-Almond Sugar Cookies Ever
Ingredients
- For the cookies-
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. orange extract
- 1 Tablespoon fresh orange zest, finely chopped
- For the glaze-
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
Instructions
- Cookies:
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla, almond and orange extract and orange zest and beat another minute or so.
- Add the flour mixture slowly. (Be careful not to add too much at a time to prevent a dust storm)
- Blend until all of the flour is incorporated and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a piece of parchment paper.
- Using your hands, knead the dough a few times.
- Put the dough in a large plastic bag and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- When it’s time to remove the dough from the refrigerator, preheat oven to 350* F.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
- Use 1/2 of the dough at a time to prevent dough becoming too soft.
- If your dough begins to soften and difficult to lift from the floured surface - pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes.
- Cut out desired shapes, and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake cookies at 350* for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool, while you prepare the orange glaze.
- Glaze:
- In a medium sized bowl, melt butter in microwave.
- Add all other glaze ingredients, and stir well with a whisk.
- If the glaze is too thick, add a tiny bit more orange juice, if the glaze is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
- Using a pastry bag or baggie decorate with glaze, as deisred.
- You can put the glaze into a small baggie, snip off the end, and use that to glaze your cookies.
- You can also simply drizzle the glaze over your cookies.
