Orange Lace Cookies
makes about 60, even after casualties

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (8 oz) sugar
3/4 cup (3 oz) flour
1/2 cup (4 oz) orange juice
1 stick (4 oz) butter
1 orange zest

1. Stir together the flour and sugar in a large bowl.

2. Melt the butter. I like to stick it in the microwave in 30-second intervals until it’s liquified.

3. Add the orange zest to the bowl with the juice, then pour the juice over the flour. Whisk together until it’s smooth as a baby’s bottom.

4. Then pour in the butter and whisk until that’s completely incorporated. The butter will be stubborn and will pool around the edges of the bowl, but keep whisking until the batter is completely smooth. This needs to be refrigerated before proceeding. At least 2 hours or overnight. Actually this batter can be kept in your fridge for up to 3 days, as long as it’s wrapped tightly.

5. Now it’s later and we’re ready to bake. First preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then fill a pastry bag, outfitted with a small plain tip, with batter. (You can also fill a ziplock back, then snip off a bit of the corner.)

6. Pipe nickel-sized rounds on Silpat-lined cookie sheets, spaced 3 inches apart. Yes, space them far apart. You’ll thank me later. And use the flattest sheet pans you’ve got or the batter will slide around. You will have way more batter than sheet pans, so you’ll need to bake them in batches. Or bake some today, and then some tomorrow.

7. Bake for about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on these. You want them golden orange. If they get into the brown palette, they start to get bitter.

8. Once they come out of the oven, they will be quite soft and if you try to pick them up, they will rip. Wait about 60 seconds for them to set up a little, then you can shape them. Gently glide an offset spatula under them to loosen, then drape them over something round, like a rolling pin, a wine bottle, a vinegar bottle, a pepper grinder, whatever you’ve got kicking around. Once they harden, you can slide them off.

If the cookies harden on the sheet pan before you’ve had a chance to shape all of them, return the sheet pan to the oven for 30-60 seconds, and they will heat up and get pliable again. If you have no desire to deal with the shaping, which is admittedly a small production, simply let them cool flat on the sheet pans, and you’ll have flat, but still lovely, cookies. Store in an airtight tupperware. These guys don’t like humidity.


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