Iced Orange Cake Cookies

Hello again! I'm back to posting a recipe after more than 3 months.

Life. It gets in the way sometimes.

That doesn't mean I haven't been cooking and baking up a storm in the kitchen though! I've made lots of dishes that I've styled and photographed and knew that I HAD to share some of them on my blog, especially with Ramadan coming up!

This recipe here was developed while I was visiting my family back home in Boston. My mom had a huge bowl of oranges sitting out on the kitchen table and I knew I wanted to utilize them somehow.

Iced Orange Cake Cookies

And so, these delicious, cake-like cookies were born. I haven't styled food like this in such a long time and I'm so happy with how they turned out! The photos came out better than I even envisioned and I'm super proud of myself! Not to mention that the cookies themselves are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Good luck having just one.

ICED ORANGE CAKE COOKIES
Yields: 15-20 cookies, depending on size

INGREDIENTS:
- 6 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- pinch of salt

ICING:
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- orange zest for garnish, if desired.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until creamy. 
3. Add the egg and mix to combine. 
4. Add the orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract and combine until everything is well incorporated.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is well incorporated and no flour lumps remain.
7. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, scoop up some cookie dough and, using floured hands, roll the dough into balls. Place cookies on the baking sheets at least two inches apart.
8. Bake for 13 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool. In the meantime, make the icing. Combine the powdered sugar and milk together in a bowl and whisk together. Add more sugar for a thicker icing, and add more milk for a thinner icing. 
* I typically never really measure how much I use of each, I just keep adding sugar and milk until I get the consistency I want. :)
10. Dip the top of the cookies in the icing and garnish with orange zest. Allow to set for a few minutes.
11. Enjoy!