Spring Orange Blossom Cookies

I am a big fan of anything citrusy, so when I stumbled upon a recipe for orange cookies I was pretty excited. I used this recipe and am extremely pleased. I didn't have vanilla bean paste and was in no mood to fight grocery store traffic, so I just used vanilla extract. (P.s. start reading Bridget's blog immediately if you know what's good for you. She's mastered the art of baking and making the rest of us look bad.)

Orange Blossom Cut-out Cookies- Makes 12 four inch cookies
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, cut into chunks
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure orange extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I used extract!)
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flower and baking powder. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar using the paddle attachment. Beat until creamy and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg, extract, vanilla, and zest until well combined.
4. In three additions, add the flour mixture on low speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl between additions. Beat just until combined. Any stray bits of flour in the bowl can be kneaded in by hand.
5. Flour a rolling pin, work surface, and cookie cutter. Roll the dough to approximately 1/4" thick. Cut with the floured cutter and place on prepared cookie sheet. Freeze the cookies for 5-10 min before baking to prevent spreading.
6. Bake the cookies for 9-12 minutes, depending on size. Cool on the cookie sheet for one minute, and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. **Keep your cookie sheet/parchment paper combo handy for glazing the cookies for easy clean up!

I am not a fan of icing what so ever, but the glaze that goes on the cookies is so good I couldn't stop eating it. Since I didn't have the vanilla bean paste to add the little flecks, I just grated in some orange zest to give it a little something extra.

Orange Blossom Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I used extract again)

1/4 teaspoon pure orange extract

1 & 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of orange juice.

Whisk all together to a thick, pourable consistency. Place the cookies on a wire rack over a cookie sheet to catch drips and pour the glaze over the cookies. Spread with an offset spatula, if need be.

Go make these right now!!!

-andrea