Piped butter cookies are not only cute but are equally scrumptious. These orange butter cookies are snappy, zesty and citrusy, with a melt-in-your-mouth cookie texture. Think shortbread cookie but piped and flavoured with fresh orange zest. To top it off a chocolate coating incorporates three flavours in one bite; citrusy, chocolatey and buttery, yum!
You will only need ;
- All-purpose flour
- powdered sugar
- unsalted room temperature butter
- egg whites
- Fresh oranges
- Cornstarch
- Baking powder
- Vanilla extract
- Chococlate for coating
The primary ingredient for these butter cookies is butter which is reflected in the taste and texture. Powdered sugar is not only used as a sweetener but also as a stabilizer since it contains cornstarch. Cornstarch in the powdered sugar inhibits overspreading of the cookies while baking; especially since these orange butter cookies have a high butter ratio. Egg whites enhance crispiness and structure.
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE BUTTER COOKIES
MIX BUTTER, SUGAR, VANILLA AND ORANGE ZEST
The butter should be at room temperature to make it easy to mix with the powdered sugar. Mix all these three ingredients light and fluffy.
ADD EGG WHITES THEN THE DRY INGREDIENTS
To the butter mixture, add egg whites and mix until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch. Then, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture stopping and mixing with a spatula until combined. The butter should be thick and sticky. If the butter is too thick and hard to pipe add 3-4 tbs of fresh orange juice to make it more manageable and pipeable. (You can substitute the fresh orange juice with milk, or an orange-flavoured liqueur)
PIPE THE COOKIES
Due to the thick nature of this cookie batter, you will need a cookie presser or large piping tip to be able to pipe definite shapes. Fit a large piping bag with a large star piping tip then half-fill it with the cookie batter. Pipe on a baking tray lined with baking paper leaving adequate space between each cookie. I piped rosettes and rings but you can pipe any shape you want.
REFRIGERATE OR FREEZE
Due to the high butter ratio of these cookies, they are prone to spreading easily; losing the piped patterns. To stop this from happening, after piping on a baking tray, refrigerate for at least one hour or set them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
BAKE
Immediately bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 170C for 20-30 minutes until they turn slightly brown. Remove from the oven and set them aside to cool completely. You will notice that the cookies will still be soft after you have removed them from the oven but should harden as they cool.
DIP IN CHOCOLATE AND SET THEM ON PARCHMENT PAPER TO COOL.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate placing each on parchment paper. Immediately garnish with dry strawberry or optionally with nuts, coconut, candied oranges etcetera. After 10-20 minutes the chocolate should harden. Enjoy!
Store orange butter cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 1 week. Stored cookies can sometimes lose their crispiness. if cookies turn soft after some time, bake again in a preheated oven for 5-8 minutes at 170C. Therefore if you are planning on storing these cookies for some time do not coat them in chocolate you can rebake them again and dunk them in chocolate right before serving.
ORANGE BUTTER COOKIES
Course: Snacks, DessertDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutesIngredients
250 gm unsalted butter
2 egg whites
130 gm powdered sugar
320 gm all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3-5 tsp finely grated zest of orange
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla extract
250gm chocolate for coating
1 tsp baking powder(not baking soda)
Directions
- In a medium-sized bowl, put room temperature butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and zest of orange. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg whites and whisk until incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy this is fine.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add it to the butter mixture and mix with a spatula until combined to a thick sticky cookie batter(do not overmix, after adding the flour).
If the batter is too thick, add 3-5 tsp of orange juice/ fresh milk / or orange-flavoured liqueur and mix it in to slightly soften the batter and make it more manageable. - Fit a large piping bag with a star-shaped piping tip. Spoon the cookie butter into the piping bag.
- Pipe the cookies on a parchment line baking tray leaving adequate space between each cookie(2-3 inches-see pictures above)
- Refrigerate for one hour or freeze for 20 minutes. In the meantime preheat the oven to 170C.
- Bake until slightly golden around the edges(15-20) minutes. Remove from the oven and set them aside to cool.
- Melt chocolate then dunk each cooled cookie setting them on parchment paper. Garnish immediately with dried fruits. After ten minutes the chocolate will have solidified and the cookies will be ready to serve.
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