Holiday Cookies: Chocolate Orange
So I started holiday baking today! I'm very excited about this! I have so many ideas for cookies, both that I've pulled from recipe books and internet sources, and that I've come up with on my own - this will be my first time baking without following recipes to a T, so I'm kind of nervous, but very excited. I only got to make a few batches today, on account of being out of flour. I'm trying to talk my parents into filling the old cat food bucket (it's clean, don't worry) with 30 pounds of flour, but for some reason they're not sure this is a great idea. Sigh. Anyway, today I made delicious meringues - which were gone within an hour! I'm going to have to make mega batches from now on if I want to get any in the gift bags/baskets. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to present the cookie-ful gifts - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to use baskets, because they used to be a quarter or so at thrift stores in Havasu, but I checked at Goodwill here and they're a dollar or more a piece! Come on, really? Oh well. I thought I'd try to do something in the style of all those wonderful food blogs and share today's experience. I didn't actually think of taking pictures until pretty late, so I didn't get all the fancy ingredient shots or anything - next time I will though! But in case you're interested, I'll also share the recipe I used! It was adapted from a recipe in a magazine that was designed for little kids (sweet and simple), but I decided to make it a tad bit more grown up. And delicious. But the chocolate chips are optional; I made a batch without them and they were still yummy.
½ cup butter (softened)
½ cup shortening
1¼ cup white sugar*
½ packet orange Kool Aid power*
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups all-purpose flour
Zest of 1 large orange
Dark chocolate chips, optional, to taste**
Food coloring, optional (orange or red and yellow)
*If you have a container of sugar-sweetened Kool Aid, add ½ cup of the and reduce the amount of sugar to 1 cup
**The recipe from which I adapted this suggested adding white chocolate chips. I think that would be cloyingly sweet, but if you have little kids to please, they might like that.
Preheat oven to 375℉. In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening approximately 30 seconds. Add sugar, Kool Aid, baking powder, and soda. Beat until fluffy, then beat in eggs, vanilla, and food coloring if using. I used two drops of yellow and one drop red. They weren't super bright orange, but it was a nice touch. Gradually add flour, beating until thoroughly combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until set. They won't brown much, but you should be able to tell when they're done to your liking. Let cool for a couple minutes on the sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack (or a plate - it doesn't matter that much). I topped them with some colored sugar (I mixed a drop of yellow and a drop of red food coloring with about ⅓ cup sugar and mixed, which took a while) and pressed it in gently with my fingers. Not really necessary for chocolate chip cookies, but looked great on the cookies without chips.
Makes a few dozen delicious cookies.
Without chips.
½ cup butter (softened)
½ cup shortening
1¼ cup white sugar*
½ packet orange Kool Aid power*
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups all-purpose flour
Zest of 1 large orange
Dark chocolate chips, optional, to taste**
Food coloring, optional (orange or red and yellow)
*If you have a container of sugar-sweetened Kool Aid, add ½ cup of the and reduce the amount of sugar to 1 cup
**The recipe from which I adapted this suggested adding white chocolate chips. I think that would be cloyingly sweet, but if you have little kids to please, they might like that.
Preheat oven to 375℉. In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening approximately 30 seconds. Add sugar, Kool Aid, baking powder, and soda. Beat until fluffy, then beat in eggs, vanilla, and food coloring if using. I used two drops of yellow and one drop red. They weren't super bright orange, but it was a nice touch. Gradually add flour, beating until thoroughly combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until set. They won't brown much, but you should be able to tell when they're done to your liking. Let cool for a couple minutes on the sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack (or a plate - it doesn't matter that much). I topped them with some colored sugar (I mixed a drop of yellow and a drop of red food coloring with about ⅓ cup sugar and mixed, which took a while) and pressed it in gently with my fingers. Not really necessary for chocolate chip cookies, but looked great on the cookies without chips.
Makes a few dozen delicious cookies.
Without chips.