December 5, 2020

Orange Rosemary Cookies

Aromatic, scrumptious, divine, sweet little cookies. This is how I would describe these Orange Rosemary Cookies. They will fill your kitchen with the most delightful smell and they taste even better.

Michael Bublé, are you already up from your 10-month hibernation? Because it is starting to smell like Christmas… At least when you bake these heavenly fragrant cookies! Orange and rosemary might seem like a peculiar combination, but let me tell you, I cannot describe just how good they are in these cookies. The rosemary gives a subtle savory taste whereas the orange provides a fresh citrusy kick.

These were one of the first bakes I took to my (then) new job and after the first brave souls had tasted them, I had my new colleagues writing to me amazed and asking for the recipe. 🙂 In addition, when I made these cookies this time, we had planned on taking them to our friends over the weekend. Little did we know that the cookies will not survive the two days they had to wait. Oopsie!

The first time I made these cookies was during a Skype Bake Off between me and Helena from Sugar, Flour, Dough. She was the one who found and suggested this recipe which I am eternally grateful for. However, when I felt the craving to bake these cookies again, I could not find the recipe anywhere! Apparently, the website hosting the recipe, had deleted it from their content. It is so sad when that happens. Well, this made me piece together the recipe with the help from Helena.

I am glad I pieced the recipe back together because the end result was amazing. Just look how scrumptious the cookies are on the picture below. It is also due to the glaze that helps keep the cookies soft and crumbly, rather than hard. You do not want to skip the glaze. Yum. If you want to join in on the yumminess, check out the recipe below and let me know how you liked them.

Orange Rosemary Cookies

These fragrant scrumptious sweet cookies are so divine and so easy to make. The rosemary gives a subtle savory taste whereas the orange provides a fresh citrusy kick. It is a match made in heaven. As a bonus, I love how baking these cookies fills my kitchen with the most delightful aroma.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Resting Time 30

Total Time 1 10

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, British

Servings 30 cookies

Equipment

Electric Hand Mixer

Ingredients

Cookies

115 grams butter (around ½ cup, at room temperature)
170 grams granulated white sugar (around ¾ cups)
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla extract
small pinch of salt
1 tbsp grated orange zest (from around 2 oranges)
1 ½ tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
¼ tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp baking soda
220 grams all-purpose flour (around 1 ½ cup)

Glaze

1 tsp grated orange zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
120 grams powdered sugar (1 cup)
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary (for decoration on top)

Instructions

Make sure your butter is at room temperature. Then, in a big bowl, soften your butter with an electric hand mixer.
Add the sugar to the soft butter and whisk for 5 minutes. The sugar and butter should become light pale.
Next, mix in your egg to the fluffy sugar and butter combo. Whisk well.
Here come the flavor makers. Throw in vanilla extract, salt, orange zest, and rosemary to the cookie dough. Beat until smooth.
In another bowl, mix flour with the baking powder and baking soda. Then add it to the cookie dough. Mix until it forms a soft dough. As always with cookies, do not overmix. Overmixing makes them tough and we do not want that.
Press your cookie dough into a disk, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 - 45 minutes.
Preheat your over to 170° C and prepare a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
For the next step, you can follow Scenario 1: Chunky Cookies or Scenario 2: Cookie Cutter Method.
In Scenario 1: Chunky Cookies, using a teaspoon, we take a teaspoon of the chilled dough and shape round cookie patties. Do not place them too close to each other on the cookie sheet as they will grow a bit in the oven. Bake them for 20 - 25 minutes until set and the sides are slightly golden.
In Scenario 2: Cookie Cutter Method, we roll out the chilled dough to 6 mm thickness on a floured surface and use a cookie cutter to cut out pretty little cookies. Bake these cookies for 10 - 12 minutes in the oven until set and the sides are slightly golden.
Note: If you need to cook your cookies in several batches, keep the dough chilled in the fridge in-between.
Remove the cookies from the oven, let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then, to fully cool down, on a wire rack.
For the glaze, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until the powdered sugar is fully combined. Use a spatula or a spoon to glaze the completely cooled cookies over a parchment or reusable baking mat to catch any glaze droplets. Top the cookies with some extra rosemary and/or orange zest. Let the glaze rest until completely set.
These cookies taste even better the next day. Store them in an airtight box and in a cold place. Enjoy and share them with others!