Winter Solstice Cookies
I found this Winter Solstice Cookie recipe on Pinterest from Just a smidgen blog. The source was quoted as from Epicurious, but I couldn’t find the original recipe. I was looking for a nice butter cookie recipe for the holidays and thought this would be perfect. However, I already had made a lemon flavored cookie, so I changed this cookie to have a delightful orange flavor. I also changed the flour to a mix of unbleached all-purpose flour and cake flour to make a lighter, more tender cookie.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg yolks, orange zest, vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) and orange extract. Continue to cream until thoroughly mixed.
In a medium bowl, add the unbleached all-purpose flour, cake flour and kosher salt. Whisk together. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Do not over mix.
Roll the dough into a long log, approximately 1 ¾ inches in diameter. Wrap the log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the logs from the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife, slice each log into ¼ inch thick rounds. Place each round on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 15 to 17 minutes.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before icing.
Whisk together the confectioners sugar with the orange extract. Add just enough orange juice until you get a consistency that you can drizzle on to each cookie. Drizzle the icing back and forth across over each cookie. Add the star sprinkles and Frozen in Sugar sprinkles. Allow icing to set, approximately 10 to 15 minutes, before storing in an airtight container.
These cookies taste great and you can make these with a lemon flavor, orange flavor or just use vanilla bean paste (or extract).
The winter solstice occurs when one of the Earth’s axis reaches it’s maximum tilt away from the sun. It is the day with the shortest daylight and the longest night of the year (December 21, 2021).
If you like my Winter Solstice Cookie recipe, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. If you made it, post your wonderful images on Instagram and tag me. Don’t forget to subscribe and you will be emailed each time I post a new recipe.
Winter Solstice Cookies
A delightful butter cookie with a wonderful orange flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
- 1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
ICING - 1 ¼ cups sifted confectioners sugar
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
- Orange juice, as needed
- Sanding Sugar
- Star Sprinkles (optional)
- Frozen in Sugar sprinkles (large sprinkles removed)
Directions
- Step 1 In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Step 2 Add in the egg yolks, orange zest and vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract). Continue to cream until thoroughly mixed.
- Step 3 In a medium bowl, add the unbleached all-purpose flour, cake flour and kosher salt. Whisk together. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Do not over mix.
- Step 4 Roll the dough into a long log, approximately 1 ¾ inches in diameter. Wrap the log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
- Step 5 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Step 6 Remove the logs from the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife, slice each log into ¼ inch thick rounds. Place each round on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
- Step 7 Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 15 to 17 minutes.
- Step 8 Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before icing.
- Step 9 Whisk together the confectioners sugar with the orange extract. Add just enough orange juice until you get a consistency that you can drizzle on to each cookie. Drizzle the icing back and forth across over each cookie. Add the star sprinkles and Frozen in Sugar sprinkles. Allow icing to set, approximately 10 to 15 minutes, before storing in an airtight container.
You’re making sine eally goid cookies this year (not that other tears weren’t good). Do I get to choose which ones I want you to bring me? 🙂
My comment had lots of errors in it and I couldn’t figure out how to edit it. I hope you understood my message.