Delicious Orange Sugar Cookies are flavored with fresh orange zest and topped with a delicious orange glaze! Cut out into your favorite shapes for a delicious, sweet treat! Great year round!
Love sugar cookies? My perfect sugar cookie recipe is the place to start and you’ll definitely want to try Sprinkle Sugar Cookies and Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies!
Our next door neighbors have a big orange tree just out of reach from our property. Luckily, at least once each (winter) season a big bag of fresh oranges arrives on our porch, courtesy of our neighbors.
In addition to eating the oranges fresh, and making juice, I usually try to bake something with the delicious fruit. One year, I made yummy Orange Cranberry Muffins with the bounty. This year, I thought some Orange Zest Sugar Cookies would be a great way to use the fresh oranges.
Orange Sugar Cookies Recipe
The recipe is just a slight variation of my regular Sugar Cookie Recipe. Instead of decorating the cookies with royal icing, I made a simple (and delicious) orange glaze. I think these simple, yet pretty cookies would be a perfect addition to a tea party, or ladies brunch.
You can cut the cookies into whatever shape you like, of course, but I love the look of shortbread so I used this fun shortbread cutter for mine.
Orange Sugar Cookie Ingredients
These cookies are made with typical sugar cookie ingredients with the addition of, you guessed it, orange! I’m using fresh orange zest in the cookies and orange juice and zest in the glaze for a delicious, subtle orange flavor. You can find the full printable recipe at the end of this post but let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need:
For the Orange Sugar Cookies
- all purpose flour – that’s what gives structure to these cookies.
- baking powder – just a small amount!
- unsalted butter – you’ll want the butter at room temperature.
- granulated sugar – to make the cookies nice and sweet.
- egg – you only need one and it helps to bind the cookies together.
- vanilla extract and almond extract – I like to use both in this recipe because the flavors pair nicely with orange.
- fresh orange zest – for lovely orange flavor.
For the Orange Glaze
- powdered sugar – for a beautifully sweet glaze.
- orange juice and orange zest – for bright orange flavor.
- melted butter – adds a touch of silkiness to the glaze.
- vanilla extract – for flavor.
Tools You’ll Need
I cut the cookies with a shortbread cutter, but any shape would produce equally delicious results.
How To Make Orange Sugar Cookies
- Whisk together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla, almond extract and orange zest and beat another minute or so.
- Add the flour mixture slowly.
- Blend just until all of the flour is incorporated.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a piece of parchment paper.
- Using your hands, knead the dough a few times.
- Place the dough in a large plastic (ziplock type) bag and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Roll out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut out desired shapes, and place on a baking sheet.
- Place the entire baking sheet of cookies in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
- Once chilled, bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
- Allow cookies to cool, and prepare orange glaze.
How To Make Orange Glaze
- In a medium sized bowl, melt butter in microwave.
- Whisk in all other glaze ingredients.
- Drizzle glaze over cookies, as desired. You can put the glaze into a small ziplock-type baggie, snip off the end, and use that to drizzle on the glaze.
Recipe Notes:
If the glaze is too thick, add a tiny bit more orange juice, if the glaze is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
Trish’s Tips for Making Perfect Orange Sugar Cookies
- Use Room Temperature Butter. Butter should be soft enough that your finger leaves a little imprint if you press on it, but not so soft that your finger goes through the butter.
- Don’t Mix the Dough Too Much. Over mixing sugar cookie dough after adding the flour can cause it to develop gluten and make the cookies tough, which is NOT what you want.
- Use Good Quality Baking Sheets. Bake your cookies on good quality baking sheets (heavy, with no non-stick coating) for the most even baking and best results.
Orange Sugar Cookie Recipe FAQs
Sugar cookie recipes, while simple, involve a little more patience and precision than drop-style cookie recipes. That can lead to questions. Here are the most common questions and their answers for making terrific cookies, every time.
Cookies should be stored in an airtight container with parchment layers between them. They can be stored at room temperature for up to a week.
Yes. I prefer to freeze these cookies before adding the glaze. Glazing the day or day before serving. To freeze, let cookies cool completely, and place in an airtight container in the freezer. Make sure to layer with parchment between layers of cookies. Cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature on the counter.
You don’t but I highly recommend it! It adds a lot of orange flavor!
Happy Baking!
More Delicious Orange Recipes
- Orange Creamsicle Rice Krispy Treats
- Cranberry Orange Cookies
- Chocolate Orange Cake
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Candied Orange Peel
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
How to Make Orange Sugar Cookies
Orange Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest finely chopped
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
Instructions
Make the cookies
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This should take about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract and orange zest and beat another minute or so.
- Add the flour mixture slowly. (Be careful not to add too much at a time or you will have a snowstorm of flour.)
- Blend until all of the flour is incorporated and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a piece of parchment paper.
- Using your hands, knead the dough a few times.
- Place the dough in a large plastic (ziplock type) bag and refrigerate for about 2 hours. If you want to speed up the chilling process, place the bag of dough in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Just don’t forget it in the freezer, or it will become too firm to work with (and then you’ll have to wait for it to thaw).
- When it’s almost time to remove the dough from the refrigerator (or freezer), preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
- Roll out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut out desired shapes, and place on a baking sheet. Place the entire baking sheet of cookies in the freezer for about 5 minutes (this helps prevent the cookies from losing their shape when baking).
- Once chilled, bake cookies at 350* for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
- Allow cookies to cool, and prepare orange glaze.
Make the glaze
- In a medium sized bowl, melt butter in microwave (less than 30 seconds). Add all other glaze ingredients, and stir well with a whisk. If the glaze is too thick, add a tiny bit more orange juice, if the glaze is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
- Drizzle glaze over cookies, as deisred. You can put the glaze into a small ziplock-type baggie, snip off the end, and use that to drizzle on the glaze.
Nutrition
Originally published March 11, 2013.
Made them for my birthday – one of the best cookie recipes I’ve ever tried!
Hi there,
Im going to try these out this weekend as part of my christmas preparation baking.. But my sister is allergic to nuts so I cant use the Almond extract. Any suggestions for a substitute?
Love Kathleen
Canberra, Australia
Hi, the cookies look lovely.
But i’m wondering, will the glaze become harden? Because i will keep in an air tight container and i scare the glaze won’t set and my cookies will become a mess when i store it. Thanks.
This looks so yummy! I would like to try the recipe but not sure on one of the ingredients. For the glaze you have vanilla down as one of the ingredients. I just wanted to make sure it is vanilla extract? Thank you!
Hi Cheryl, Yes, “vanilla” = vanilla extract in any of my recipes. Happy baking!