When November comes round - Orange cookies in an anticipation of Christmas


Well, October has surely sped by me at the blink of an eye, and yet, strangely enough, it felt like a really long month. A very weird month, indeed. The unseasonal heat we experienced here in Portugal made it feel like it was still August, or early September, instead of October. I felt out of time, displaced, as if I had entere some sort of Twilight Zone universe where Summer just kept repeating itself, Summer not being my favourite season at all. Still, it was October and the calendar would not let me forget, and so we had quite a few celebrations going. As we usually do in October. It's like most people who are or have been part of my life have birthdays in October, how uncanny is that?


It started off with me launching my fourth novel, book number three on my The Preternaturals Series, "Supernatural", on the second of October - which was also my father's birthday. Then there were friends and family members having birthdays, and my own on the eleventh. More friends and family members had yet more birthdays and then my husband's on the twenty third, and finally Halloween came to wrap up the festivities. Yeah, there was a lot of partying and eating nice naughty stuff. There were loads of cookies getting cooked, and if you're anything like me, you're already thinking about the next round of festivities, better know as THE HOLIDAYS. I know I am, and as we usually test drive a few cookie recipes before, we have been going round toying with ideas and recipes. These are well tested and always a sure bet, so they will possibly be part of our Christmas cookie hamper.


Orange cookies, they are, and really fragrant and flavourful. You won't go wrong giving them a try. Here's how:
  • 250 gr cold butter
  • 350 gr flour
  • 175 gr dark muscovado sugar
  • juice of half an orange
  • zest of an orange
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp baking pwder
Mix the baking powder and flour together, and then the orange zest. Pour this onto a clean, cold surface and make a hole in the middle. Add the sugar, butter, orange juice and egg. Combine the ingredients into a dough. Knead everything together very softly, and wrap in cling film, refrigerating it for half an hour at least. After that time, bring the dough out and roll it quickly over a floured surface, cutting it into the shapes you want. Transfer the cut cookies into a baking tray lined with baking parchement and bake in the oven for about 12 minutes at 170º. Once they've cooled enough, you can keep them in air tight containers and they actually last for quite some time. They're perfect as little hamper fillers for Christmas, the orange aroma makes them really Christmas-y I think!




Comments

  1. So lovely to hear how you've been celebrating your book! Congratulations! Such an achievement! Lovely to hear you had lots of excuses to bake too. These look very festive indeed.
    Sending you lots of good vibes
    Hugs
    Kimberly

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    Replies
    1. thank you sooooo much, you are always so sweet and it's lovely reading your comments

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  2. Já há algum tempo que não faço bolachas caseiras, essas parecem-me maravilhosas! Cozinhar para os outros é para mim sempre um acto de amor, excelente ideia para presente de natal =)

    http://mrs-margot.blogspot.pt/

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  3. love how citrusy these cookies sound! baking cookies was one of my favorite holiday memories growing up, so these are bringing back good memories (:

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  4. These orange cookies sound delicious and exactly like something we had during the holidays when Ii was younger. Maybe I need to try these and revive that tradition.

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