We Gotseses TREES!!! | From Cupcakes To Caviar

Soft Frosted Orange Cookies

Some of you may remember that late last year my husband and I bought a house and land. We’re in our late 40’s and this is the first time (for all intents and purposes) that we’ve owned a home, so we’re loving it. You can see a photo of the houseÂ here . Is it fancy? Not in the least. Is it new? Nope; about 13 years old. But it’s ours and it came with ten acres of land; 3 cleared and 7 wooded which was one of the major reasons we wanted it.

So this Spring we’re having fun doing a lot of planting. My husband tilled up a large area for us to have as a garden and we’re planting trees. So far we have two different types of apple trees, 2 fig trees, a peach tree and a nectarine tree. I want to get a couple more apple trees, one more peach tree as well as 2 or so pear trees, some cherry trees and some nut trees. It’s hard to describe how it feels to see this house becoming OUR dream… OUR future. It’s pretty darn cool.

Unfortunately, we live too far north for citrus trees though I do eventually want to get some dwarf citrus trees to pot, leave out in Summer and bring in during the cold seasons. If anyone has those and has any recommendations for a good place to buy them, please let me know 🙂

But for now, when I want a citrus dessert, I have to do what those of us not in very sunny climes have to do…. go to the store and buy some fruit.

I wanted cookies recently but not chocolate ones. I know I know… close your mouth and stop looking so amazed. There IS life beyond chocolate. Not always a good life, but life nonetheless. I say this as I am nibbling on a Scharffen Berger Milk Chocolate Bar I splurged on. Go figure.

I have a few Amish cookbooks that I love. I mean think about it; for the most part, what are you going to find in an Amish cookbook? Hearty homey, comforting types of foods. And what do I tend to cook? The same. So I saw a recipe in one of my cookbooks for Orange Cookies. They were described as soft, cakelike and definitely orange. While I don’t normally care for cakelike cookies, it sounded good that day so off I went to buy some oranges. These are pretty darn yummy. Like the description said, they are soft and cakelike. They are a very tender mild slightly tangy cookie on their own. The frosting is what sets them apart though my husband loved them plain with no frosting. So give these a try. They are great after school snacks or a light dessert.

Soft Orange Frosted Cookies

1 6 ounce can orange juice concentrate, thawed (I bought a large can and we just used the extra for juice; cheaper)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream, room temp
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons orange zest (plus more for garnish)
Orange frosting-
1 3 ounce package cream cheese, room temp
1 tablespoon butter, room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons oj concentrate
2 tablespoons milk (I actually omitted the milk & just used all oj concentrate)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put aside 2 tablespoons of the oj for the frosting.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes. Then add the sour cream, eggs and remaining oj concentrate. Mix well.
In another bowl, whisk together the dry cookie ingredients, including the zest.
Add the flour mixture to the bowl of sugar-butter mix. Using a wooden spoon (unless, as I’ve said before, you LIKE having a kitchen coated in flour from using a mixer in a bowl filled with flour hehe) mix well. Make sure the dough is thoroughly combined and there is no flour hiding at the bottom of the bowl.
Using a 1 inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of the dough onto either non stick or parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake for ten minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Don’t over bake these.
Transfer to a rack to cool while you make the frosting. make sure not to frost these until they are completely cool.
For the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. Beat well. Add the oj concentrate and milk and again, beat well. Add the powdered sugar and beat until mixture is smooth and creamy. If it’s too thick, add more oj or more milk.
Spread on the cookies and garnish with some extra orange zest.