My Great Grandma was a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen. The women in my family had the bar set high. It took plenty of patience and practice on my mother’s part to even come close to my father’s grandmother’s cooking.
Soft orange cookies are one of Great-Grandma Berndt’s heirloom recipes. They’re so brag-worthy that I baked them as wedding favors when Husband and I tied the knot. These soft orange cookies taste delicious and have a uniquely tender and almost cake-like texture. They’re perfumed with fresh orange zest and flavorfully packed with sour cream.
Orange cookies come together quick, and spread into big, beautiful cookies as they bake. They grow so much in the oven that you should err on the side of caution and space them far apart on the cookie sheet to avoid the double-wide cookie phenomenon. Or, if you’re like me, just grin and determine that all cookies that meld together are visually unappealing and by default become your personal sampling cookies.
Since the cookies are so soft and tender, they must be baked on a lined baking sheet. Use parchment paper or a reusable silicon mat, like I do. These cookies are best eaten the day they’re baked because their moist crumb means they stick together like mad if you stack them. If you must stack and store be sure to layer orange cookies between wax paper or parchment.
Great Grandma's Orange Cookies
Serves: 6 dozen
Ingredients
- 1 c. shortening
- 2 c. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. sour cream
- 1 t. baking soda
- 2T. baking powder
- ½ c. orange juice
- 4 c. flour
Instructions
- Cream shortening.
- Add sugar and cream well. Add eggs, sour cream, and orange juice. Don't worry if the batter curdles. It will come together as you add the dry ingredients. Add those now and mix until blended.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 12-15 min.
- Allow to cool and glaze with a mixture of powdered sugar and orange juice. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
If you find that the cookies spread too much, refrigerate batter for 30 minutes before baking.
Which family recipes are your heirloom culinary treasures? If you’ve posted the recipe, be sure to share a link below in the comments. We’d love to check it out!
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Oh, now you have me curious…I want to see inside that little package!!!
I got your message…no worries, orange is close to lemon or lime. 😉
I totally blew it this month! I do have the excuse of three children, back to school, cheer and football practices everyday.
Thanks for sharing!
~ingrid
I remember these cookies! They were a family favorite. Grandma would bring them to our house in a huge rectangular tupperware container. They are especially good with Thanksgiving festivities. I’ll bake them soon!
Auntie K
Orange cookies sound yummy! Dropping in from Marvelous Mondays!!
Thanks, Renee! I hope you find time to try them. Have a wonderful week and stop by again soon.
Thanks for sharing this family treat with us at Marvelous Monday… I love a soft cookie. Pinned to my MMy board!
Thank you so much for pinning, Deb! I’m definitely a soft cookie girl too. Biscotti and Oreos are my only exceptions 🙂
they look yummy!
Thank you, Dina! They are even more tasty than they look. You have no idea how hard I worked to try to make them photogenic 😉
these look so good! pinning! thanks for sharing 🙂 http://www.handmadeintheheartland.com/
Thank you, Angela! It’s so much more fun to share recipes when they’re family favorites that are passed down from generation to generation. I hope you enjoy them- they’re spectacular with cold milk!
These sound and look amazing! And of course the visually unappealing ones automatically become taste-tester cookies ;). I do have a question though: would these still turn out if I used butter instead of shortening? I tend to err away from shortening when I bake.
Rebecca, I honestly don’t know how they’d be with butter. You have no idea how many times I’ve almost tried that because I’m not big on using shortening either. Since they are so soft and cake-like because of the shortening, I have the feeling it would change the texture but otherwise work out. If you try it, be sure to come back and let me know.
H Jelli – I absolutely love this cookie and reminds me so much of one my own grandmother used to make. They look amazing! Visiting from Tatertots & Jello and pinning! Thank you so much for sharing this special recipe with us! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you so much for the sweet words, Cindy. I hope you find time to make some cookies this weekend- who doesn’t love cookies, right?! Thank you for sharing the recipe too. I really appreciate it.
Great project !!
I would love you to come and share @ Craft, Create & Inspire linky party !!!
Look forward to seeing you there 🙂
http://livel0vecreate.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/craft-create-inspire-linky-party_11.html
Claire x
I love these cookies, they look so soft and the citrus is just so refreshing!! Thanks for sharing your family recipe with us 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Zainab. I was literally at your site just seconds ago drooling over your cranberry muffins. Citrus is great because it reminds me of summer even in the middle of winter. Hope you have a great weekend. Happy baking!
They look so pretty and sound so refreshing and seasonal. Visiting from Best of the Weekend!
Thanks for sharing the recipe. We love making cookies from scratch.
Oh man, these look ridiculously delicious! 🙂
Thanks, Heather Lynne. There’s a reason they’ve been passed on for generations 😉 Hope you try them soon!
the cookies look wonderful. so nice of you to share a family recipe!
Thank you, Dina! We really do cherish my great-grandma’s handwritten recipes. They’re really special and delicious. Thank you for stopping by.
Hi!
I was wondering if these freeze well? Or if you have tried? The batch is so huge! Not that I am complaining as they are crazy delicious. Thanks so much for sharing this lovely recipe.
Tanya
Hi Tanya, so glad you tried the recipe. Actually, I think I did freeze these for my wedding, you know, prep ahead. If I remember correctly they stuck together a little bit, so I’d recommend either freezing them separating them with parchment between layers, or serving immediately. Hope this helps. Thank you so much for visiting.
Actually I got brave and made a whole new batch and froze them (because the other batch I made went to work with me and disappeared 😉 and they turned out famously! When they thawed again they tasted the same as they did when they were fresh and cooled that day, and I did use parchment in between as I was a bit fearful of sticking, which it sounds like I was right to!
Thanks again for this delicious recipe! It’s a new favourite for sure.
Do these cookies need any salt?
You know, it’s been awhile since I’ve made them and they’re great as is, but it could never hurt to add a pinch of salt!