Delicious Italian iced orange cookies that melt in your mouth with every bite. These beautiful, soft orange cookies are perfectly sweet and have hints of fresh orange juice and zest in every bite.
Course
Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine
Italian
Keyword
iced orange cookies, italian iced orange cookies, italian orange cookies, orange cookies
Prep Time15minutes
Cook Time10minutes
Total Time25minutes
Servings14cookies
Calories148kcal
AuthorMonique Volz of AmbitiousKitchen.com
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
6tablespoonsbutter, at room temperature
1/2cupsugar
1egg, at room temperature
1/3cupfresh orange juice (or from the carton works too)
1tablespoonorange zest
1/8teaspoonalmond extract
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2cupsall purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
1/4teaspoonsalt
For the icing:
1/2cuppowdered sugar
1tablespoonfresh orange juice
1teaspoonorange zest
1tablespoonmelted butter
1tablespoonsoftened cream cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 1 minutes until well combined. Turn mixer to medium-low speed and add in egg (make sure it’s at room temp -- you can do this by running the egg under warm water for 1 min); beating until well combined, smooth and creamy into the butter and sugar. Next beat in the orange juice, zest and almond extract for about 30 more seconds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix together on medium speed until combined.
Drop about one heaping tablespoon full of dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. You should end up with 14-16 cookies. Bake for 10-13 minutes until just barely golden brown on the edges.
Remove and allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
To make the icing: Once cookies have cooled, make the icing: add the powdered sugar, orange juice, zest, melted butter and softened cream cheese to a bowl. A drop of almond extract is also delicious in the icing, but please only do one drop if you'd like. Dip the top of the cookies in the icing then place back on the wire rack to allow icing to harden. Garnish with a little extra orange zest to make them pretty. Makes about 14-16 cookies.
Recipe Notes
To make cookies gluten free: I suggest using an all purpose gluten free flour such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour. I also think chickpea flour or quinoa flour would work very well but you may get a different flavor.
To make cookies vegan: Use a flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) and a softened vegan buttery stick (such as Earth Balance) and vegan cream cheese.
Get all of our tips & tricks for freezing these cookies here!
Nutrition Facts
Melt In Your Mouth Italian Iced Orange Cookies
Amount Per Serving (1 cookie)
Calories 148Calories from Fat 58
% Daily Value*
Fat 6.4g10%
Saturated Fat 3.9g24%
Carbohydrates 21.7g7%
Fiber 0.4g2%
Sugar 11.9g13%
Protein 1.9g4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.