The most common mistakes made by home bakers, professionals say, have to do with the care and handling of one ingredient: butter. Creaming butter correctly, keeping butter doughs cold, and starting with fresh, good-tasting butter are vital details that professionals take for granted, and home bakers often miss.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ⅔ cups cake flour or more all-purpose flour (cake flour gives a finer texture)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
- 2 packed teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
- 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
For the icing (See note):
- 1 orange
- 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 drops almond or vanilla extract
- Pinch fine salt
- Nutritional Information
Nutritional analysis per serving (48 servings)
108 calories; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 21 milligrams cholesterol; 70 milligrams sodium
Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
About 4 dozen cookies
Preparation
- Position two oven racks in top and bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk flours, baking soda and salt together. In a mixer, cream together the sugar, butter and orange zest at medium speed until light and smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl frequently. Add egg and mix. Add one egg yolk and mix. Add remaining egg yolk and mix. Stir in dry ingredients just until combined.
- Scoop tablespoons of dough onto parchment, leaving more than 1 inch between cookies. Press each one down lightly with 2 fingers to flatten to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Leave any ridges and valleys on top of cookie intact, but smooth the edges.
- Bake about 15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through. Cookies should be pale but baked all the way through. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool before storing in airtight containers up to 1 week.
- When ready to serve, make icing: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Peel orange, being careful to remove only outer orange zest, and cut into thin strips. Blanch in boiling water 1 minute; drain. Sift confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Whisk in 2 tablespoons milk. Whisk in more milk if needed to make mixture thin enough to spread. Add extract, salt and zest, and whisk to combine.
- Place cookies on a rack and drizzle icing over each one (make sure there is some orange zest in each spoonful). Icing will settle into cookie crevices; let harden.
- Instead of icing, cookies can be sprinkled with coarse crystal sugar before baking.
1 hour
Dining and Cooking