My whole life I have been a sugar cookie fanatic - they were always the cookie I chose when my mom let me pick something from the bakery at the grocery store as a kid.
They are simple, but sometimes the best things in life are just that - simple. Not a lot of fuss, definitely not pretentious. They don't scream "Hey, hey look at me!" they don't have to, because they are a classic.
These cookies spread so beautifully in the oven creating big, crispy cookies that our entire family loved.
PrintOrange Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies are great on their own, but make really incredible ice cream sandwiches too!
- Yield: 4 dozen 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups gluten free all purpose flour, I used King Arthur Flour Multi-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh orange juice
- sparkling sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and combine with a whisk.
- Put the sugars and the zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium for about 30-45 seconds until thoroughly combined. Add the butter then mix until pale and fluffy; about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the orange juice. Reduce the speed to low then gradually add the flour mixture.
- Use a small cookie scoop to drop the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, about 1-½ tablespoons of dough per cookie, leaving about 3-inches between each cookie. (They spread a lot!) Flatten cookies slightly then sprinkle each one with sparkling sugar.
- Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, until golden, rotating the pans half way through. Transfer the cookies to wire racks using a spatula and let cool completely.
Sofia says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Sounds yum. Quick question: if I were to use normal all purpose flour instead of gluten free, would I need to alter anything else in the recipe?
thismess says
Hi Sofia, i think you should be ok just substituting the flour! We love these cookies, I hope you do too!
Karen Pokrant says
Very good .I made these for a potluck where a few people had a gluten sensitivity.Real good.I didn’t bake them all that day,put the dough in refrigerator.Today I thought i’d Play with them a bit.I added a 1/2 cup ground almonds and kneaded it in.Rolled in balls and pressed with a pretty bottomed glass that was dipped in berry sugar.They stayed domed and the pattern was still,visible .A little cake like .Now I have two different gluten free cookies for my holiday table.
Your original recipe is lovely,but I like to play with recipes.
thismess says
Karen, your version sounds incredible!!! I may just have to give that a try before the holiday season is over!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby cakes) says
Seriously your cookies are absolute perfection!!!
Meg says
That is such a huge compliment coming from you! Thank you so very much Jocelyn. 🙂