Orange Holiday Sugar Cookies

Orange Holiday Sugar Cookies
4.5 (2 ratings)
Back when oranges weren't readily available at grocery stores, they were once a treat to receive on Christmas. This was especially true during the Great Depression, when gifts might have been too expensive for families. These cookies offer a hint of the sweet citrus. Courtesy of McCormick
Prep Time
20
minutes
Cook Time
10
minutes
Servings
24
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
  • 2 1/3 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon mccormick® pure orange extract
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 3 to 4 teaspoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon mccormick® all natural pure vanilla extract
  • 3 to 4 drops mccormick® assorted food color & egg dye
Directions
  1. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
  2. Set aside.
  3. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
  4. Add egg and orange extract; mix well.
  5. Gradually stir in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
  6. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight until firm.
  7. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  8. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness.
  9. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
  10. Place on greased baking sheets.
  11. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
  12. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute.
  13. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
  14. For the icing, mix all ingredients except food colors.
  15. (Stir in additional milk as needed to thin icing or more confectioners' sugar to thicken, if needed.)
  16. Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color desired.
  17. Stir drops of food color into icing until desired shade is reached.
  18. To ice cookies, hold cookie by its edge and dip top of cookie into icing.
  19. (Or spoon the icing onto cookie using a teaspoon.)
  20. Place iced cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet to dry.
  21. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch drips.)
  22. To add decorative details to cookies, spoon tinted icing into resealable plastic bag.
  23. Snip off a tiny piece of the corner.
  24. Squeeze icing through hole in plastic bag to decorate cookies.
  25. If desired, colored sugar may be sprinkled onto freshly iced cookies.