These delicate sugar cookies have an orange glaze on top. Delicious!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 12 mins |
| Additional Time: | 28 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 36 |
| Yield: | 3 dozen cookies |
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup finely chopped almonds (Optional)
- 3 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- ⅔ cup orange marmalade
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- ½ cup sliced almonds for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and salt.
- Beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Mix in the chopped almonds and orange zest. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.
- Transfer the cookie dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangle about 13 inches long. Cut the dough into 3 1/2-inch rectangles using a fluted pastry wheel or sharp paring knife. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheets, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Combine the sifted confectioners’ sugar, the orange marmalade, and the orange juice and stir well. Spread the glaze on the cookies and garnish with sliced almonds, if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 153 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 22 g |
| Cholesterol | 7 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 52 mg |
| Sugars | 16 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made a double-batch of these cookies for a holiday cookie swap. I doubled all of the ingredients but for the glaze. The ratio of cookie to glaze came out perfectly. The orange peel in the marmalade adds a very pretty detail to the shiny glaze on the cookie. Cooking these was more problematic. The instructions are unclear about the full size of the cut cookie. I made mine about 2 inches square and they really spread out in the oven, closer to 3+ inches. After that, I just rolled the dough into about 1-inch balls and patted them down into circles on the cookie pan. Depending on thickness, some of my batches were done at 10 minutes. Keep an eye on these as they bake. It also takes a while for the glaze on these to set. I tried to speed up the setting process in the fridge overnight, but that didn’t help make them less sticky. This is a very tasty cookie. I will make them again!
These spread out quite a bit. I rolled tablespoon-sized balls of dough in my hands then flattened them on the baking sheets. They formed together, but were easy to break apart cleanly. Added ~ 1/8 tsp orange extract to dough and only about 1 tbsp orange zest, and the orange flavor was very mild. Made only half the glaze which was the perfect amount. Might make again.
These really were very good. The spices complement the orange quite nicely. The glaze was a bit too sweet for my taste (but I suppose the sweetness depends on the type of marmalade you use, so my advice: use one with a high-fruit, low-sugar content). The texture was good. Crisp on the outside, spongey on the inside. If you like less of a spongey cookie, like me, I advice making the squares smaller, and leaving them in the oven for 2 to 4 minutes longer.
This was a NICE surprise and holy smokes they are addicting. I used butter and butter flavored shortening and toasted the almond slivers in the oven until they were golden brown. They gave the cookies a lovely rounded flavor of both citrus and toasted almonds. Delicious and thanks for sharing. My hubby suggested toasted coconut the next time.. could be good too!
This is a wonderful cookie. All the spices with the orange zest is a great combination. I would’ve liked a bit more orange flavor but i am not one to mess much with a recipe. i cut the glaze ingredients in half due to another reviewer saying there was a lot leftover. The amount was then perfect. The glaze was a bit too sweet for my taste…i think it overpowers the taste of the cookie instead of compliments it, therefore i gave this 4 stars. keep in mind that this cookie spreads alot, so if you are like me and don’t roll out the dough and opt for just making flattened balls, keep them around 1″ to 1 1/2″ in diameter. overall, this cookie was yummy! will make again. thanks!
I used tangerines instead of oranges, which gave the cookies a more tart flavor. I love how buttery and crispy they turned out. Delicious!
This cookie got raves from my family and friends. The orange flavor, crispy/chewy texture, and tangy frosting make it a great addition to my repertoire.
WOW! My mom and I added this to our Christmas cookie line-up and it was an extremely welcome addition. The glaze is delicious and the sweetness of it really compliments the spice cookie nicely. The only suggestion I could think to make would be to add a little more orange juice to the glaze mixture to give it a little more orange flavor, but otherwise this cookie was amazing. A word of caution, the recipe makes a lot of glaze and even after brushing a decent amount onto the cookies I still had some left over. I’m not complaining though, as I used the leftovers on a few slices of pumpkin bread I made, and it was delicious. Definitely a keeper that’s likely to make an appearance at future Christmases (if I can wait that long to make it again).