Orange Slice Cookies
I discovered orange slice cookies a few years ago while judging a local holiday cookie contest. The originality of using orange slices caught my attention, but what I really loved about the cookies was their overall flavor and texture. They were slightly crunchy and tasted like brown sugar, oats, coconut and pecans. The orange candies just enhanced what was already good.
Orange slice cookies were new to me at the time, but I soon found out they are a rather old and famous cookie. In fact, if you do some searching you’ll see there are all kinds of variations. I’ve tried a few and my favorites are made with the ingredients below — specifically, shortening (no butter, the butter versions aren’t as crunchy), dark brown sugar, and a little salt to offset the sweetness of the orange candies and coconut. Pecans are another important ingredient, but you can use walnuts in a pinch.
Not so incidentally, this cookie was inspired by the fact that there’s another orange slice cookie (very similar!) in the Austin Statesman competition.
Orange Slice Cookies
1 cup shortening (192 grams)
1 cup dark brown sugar (210 grams)
1 cup white sugar (192 grams)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour – (260 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder – 5ml
1 teaspoon baking soda – 5ml
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup orange slices, chopped
2 cups oats
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
Cream shortenting and both sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs and beat just until mixed (about 30 seconds).
Thoroughly stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and add to sugar mixture. Stir until incorporated, then stir in coconut, orange slices, oats and nuts.
Shape dough into neat 2 inch balls and set about 2 1/2 inches apart on parchment lined or ungreased cookie sheets and press them down to make rounds a little over 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until they appear set. You can also make them smaller if you’d like.
Depending on how big you make them, you should get anywhere from 2 to 3 dozen cookies.
Those look interesting. As I was reading orange slices, I was thinking fresh oranges. Then you mentioned candies and I was quite surprised. Fun! Last year I made some cookies with orange flavored chocolate and thought they were really good with that hint of orange. I’ll bet these would be good with some added chocolate, too!
thank you for yet another yummy looking recipe!!! I have been collecting your cookie recipes & this one will be added!!!!! I have made 3 different kinds so far this weekend/beginning of the week. I freeze them this time of year, for holiday gifts & treats! Thanks so much!
yummy. what interesting flavour for a cookies
http://maltesebakes.blogspot.com/
I’ve been making orange shortbreads for years. I’ll have to send you the recipe.
very interesting. not too sweet with the dark brown sugar?
Okay, this sounds totally random, but this post reminded me of a dream I had a few years ago… in my dream I made Skittle cookies for a cookie contest. They were really tasty in my dream and very colorful and chewy. So delicious… Anyway, the next morning I woke up and thought, “Hey, Skittle cookies, what a novel idea.” So I whipped a batch together that morning, ha ha. Anyway, the cookies were good, but the skittles had completely melted and their sugary centers had crystallized and turned hard. Turns out, I should have used orange slices instead, ha ha.
Anything with orange in the title works for me
No way! I love those candies! I would never have thought to add them to cookies. Awesome idea.
can’t wait to try them!
This seems like a really unique cookie to me.
Tried a very similar recipe earlier this year, clipped I think from Southern Living quite a few years ago. I found that the easiest way to chop the candies was to use a large sharp knife and have granulated sugar sprinkled on the cutting board — the sugar would stick to the cut edges of the sticky candy and keep the knife from getting TOO gummy. Just use some of the 1 cup of sugar that’s already in the recipe rather than adding even more sugar and sweetness to the recipe!
Unfortunately orange slice candies vary greatly in flavor and texture, but the ones from Walmart (their store brand) are usually consistently good.
I wonder what other types of gum drops and spice drops would taste like in cookies–cherry, pink (strawberry) or white might also work. Or jelly beans.
I had never heard of it! How did you like them? Would you rate them on a top cookie list?
They’re new to me Anna. I though you had used actual orange slices in your cookies, lol! I’m sure they’re good and with a nice orangey flavour, eh?
I was thinking about these cookies and wondering how a few chocolate chips would be in them? Are they orangey enough to stand up to some chips? Semi-sweet, milk, or white would all be possibilities? Or maybe one of those melted and drizzled on top, with some orange zest stirred into the drizzle?
What an interesting cookie. THis is so clever and orange is a winner.
Orange slices were definitely a childhood favorite of mine! These look really good! I never would have thought to add these to a cookie.
Oh! You just made me remember my grandmother’s orange slice cake–I haven’t thought of that in YEARS. Oh, how I loved that cake. I’ll have to see if any of the aunts have the recipe . . . Thanks for reminding me!