Classic Vanilla Orange Sugar Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg, orange zest, orange juice and extract. Gradually beat in flour., Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 375°. On a floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets., Bake until edges are light brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, milk and, if desired, food coloring until smooth. Pipe or spread over cookies; let stand until set.

Steps:

• 1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In bowl of stand mixer, beat sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, egg yolk, orange zest and vanilla until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to bowl, mixing until combined. Turn dough out onto a work surface and divide into three equal pieces. Shape each piece into a flat disk. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until cold, or for up to 3 days. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, placing racks in the upper and lower thirds. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one disk of dough to a thickness of ¼ inch. Using cookie cutter, cut out shapes and carefully transfer them to 2 prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Reroll scraps as necessary. Repeat process with more dough until both cookie sheets are full. Bake for 11 - 15 minutes, switching positions of cookie sheets halfway through, until cookies are set and very lightly browned. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer them to wire racks to cool completely before decorating. Repeat steps 6 and 7 with the remaining dough. Melt chocolate and milk in a double broiler. When cookies are cool, drizzle over the cookies and allow to set.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in orange zest and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk remaining ingredients; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Shape level tablespoons of dough into balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in airtight containers.

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, the softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the almond extract and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Divide dough in half; shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Roll each disk on lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters into desired shapes. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts at least 2 inches apart.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• In medium bowl, beat 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla with spoon until smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too stiff to spread, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Tint with food color. Spread frosting on cooled cookies. Decorate as desired with colored sugar or candy sprinkles. Let stand about 4 hours or until frosting is set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.

Steps:

• In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.
• For the icing, sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid. Spread over cookies with back of a spoon. Add other decorations, if desired. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
• Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat until the dough just comes together, being careful not to over mix.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Place the ball of dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Keeping the dough in the parchment, transfer to a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut out the cookies in the desired shapes and place on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper or an un-greased nonstick cookie sheet, at least 1-inch apart. Transfer to the freezer and chill for at least 15 minutes or until they are firm.
• Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Let cookies cool completely on the sheets before decorating.