Orange Crinkle Cookies

These Orange Crinkle Cookies will be a hit at your next party! Chewy and delicious, no cake mix need! Step-by-step photos teach you how to bake these scrumptious orange cookies.

This cookie dough recipe is based off of my lemon crinkle cookies recipe.

Next time I make these I want to try adding some chocolate chips to the dough! I love orange and chocolate together!

Ingredients

For this citrus cookie recipe you will need:

• Sugar. Just good old granulated sugar is needed for this recipe.
• Orange Zest. Using a Microplane zester makes it so much easier to get all of the zest out. We will rub the zest into the sugar to really release all of the orange flavor and oils. Check out my orange olive oil cake recipe next!
• Unsalted Butter. You will need to cream the butter and sugar so make sure your butter is totally softened to room temperature.
• Eggs. For your eggs to properly incorporate they need to be at room temperature.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Just a little vanilla you want the base flavor but you don't want to overpower the orange flavors.
• Pure Orange Extract. I find to really get the orange flavor you need the extract unfortunately the zest and juice are not enough.
• Fresh Orange Juice. This helps give the best orange flavor.
• All-Purpose Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly. I much prefer weighing my flour to ensure I don't accidentally pack too much into a cup.

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

• Salt. Don't skip it, salt brings out all the other ingredients flavors.
• Cornstarch. Also known as cornflour, just a bit of this helps tenderize the dough and create a lovely soft cookie.
• Chemical Leavening Agents. We will use a combination of baking soda and baking powder for the cookies to rise properly. This also ensures the cookies crack to give that classic crinkle cookie look.
• Confectioners Sugar. To have achieved the iconic crinkle cookie look you need to roll the cookies in powdered sugar, I like to really press the powdered sugar in to get a nice thick layer.

I personally do not dye the dough orange but you could add a bit of orange food coloring if you want, just add it after you've mixed in the flour.

Instructions

Start by zesting the orange.

With clean hands rub the orange zest into the sugar for a couple of minutes, until fragrant.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk beat the butter and orange sugar for 2-3 minutes.

Make sure to scrape down the bowl so everything is evenly combined.

Add the whole egg and mix to combine, again scraping the bowl, add the egg yolk, orange juice, and orange and vanilla extracts.

Mix until fully combined, again scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure it's all distributed evenly.  

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mix until just combined.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least 2 hours or up to 4 days.

When ready to bake preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. In a small but deep bowl add the powdered sugar. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop 1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough. Then take the dough ball and roll together and dunk in powdered sugar, I like to pat the powdered sugar on to really ensure a thick layer of powdered sugar stays on.

Place cookies on a baking sheet two-three inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes until cookies are just set.

Set the cookie sheet on a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I hope your family loves these orange crinkle cookies as much as mine does!

How to freeze

To freeze baked cookies: Once you've baked the cookies allow them to cool completely then place in an air-tight container or freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat place cookies on the counter to thaw for an hour.

To freeze unbaked cookie dough balls: Scoop the cookie dough and place it on a parchment-lined sheet pan or large plate to freeze, once they are frozen (about an hour or two) place the dough balls into an air-tight container or freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

When ready to bake the cookies, follow normal instructions but add a minute or two onto the bake time. The cookies may not spread as much from frozen, in that case when the cookies come out of the oven I bang the tray on the counter to encourage the cookies to spread.

Check out this post on my Cookie Baking Tips

Can you double

You can totally double the recipe just press the 2X button on the recipe card below and make sure your mixer/ bowl can handle all of the ingredients!

More Orange Recipes

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This Orange Chocolate Frangipane Tart is unlike anything else and absolutely scrumptious!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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