These Orange Cookies are soft, fluffy and zesty with a mild tang! They have an eggless sugar cookie base that's made with fresh squeezed orange juice and zest. The dough is then rolled in orange sugar prior to baking, resulting in a soft fluffy interior and a slight crispy exterior! If that wasn't enough, the cookies are gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be made vegan!
Wash and dry all 3 oranges. Take a zester and zest all 3 oranges. Put the zest in a little bowl and set aside.
Take 1 orange, cut it in half and juice it. Make sure to remove any seeds if they get in the juice. Set aside. There should be about 2 tablespoons of juice. If there isn't enough, juice another orange.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of gluten free flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick and 1 ¼ cups of the granulated sugar until it is soft and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Slowly beat the cornstarch water mixture, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon of orange zest and the 2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange juice into the creamed butter and sugar. It will look light orange and chunky. That's normal.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the gluten free flour mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the spatula and combine.
Keep the dough in the bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2.5 hours. You must not skip this step or the cookies will spread everywhere in the oven while baking.
When the dough has 15 minutes left of chilling, preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Once the dough is done chilling, in a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of orange zest. Mix until completely combined.
Take the dough out of the fridge. Using an ice cream scoop or large cookie scoop, scoop the dough out into 14 scoops. The cookie dough will be quite sticky and may stick to your hands if they're warm. If this happens, rinse your hands and then shake off any excess water. You want them slightly wet but not dripping wet. This will help prevent the dough from sticking. You can also wash the cookie scoop half way through to remove any stuck on dough.
After they're scooped, roll each dough ball in the orange sugar and coat completely.
Place dough balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 14-15 minutes. Store extra dough balls in the fridge while the rest are baking. I bake no more than 8 at a time.
Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven by using a spatula to push them into a circle shape and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. If you don't do this, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess.If the cookies appear a bit puffed up, gently push them down ever so slightly with the back of the spatula.
Video
Notes
For smaller cookies: Use a small cookie scoop and bake at same temperature for 12-13 min. Make sure to keep dough in the fridge in-between baking the batches.Vegan: Use a dairy free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks and a non dairy milk.All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 packed cups of regular flour (336 grams). Still chill the dough. Storing: Keep extra completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freezing the Dough: Wrap dough in a disc in plastic wrap and then pop it in a zip top bag. Freeze for up to 30 days. Thaw dough in the fridge the night prior to using. No need to chill again prior to baking.Freezing Baked Cookies: Freeze completely cooled cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a single layer for about 10 min or until frozen. Once frozen, place cookies stacked in a freezer safe airtight container and freeze cookies for up to 2-3 months. To defrost, remove container from freezer and let sit at room temperature until cookies are soft.Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.