Day 6 … Orange Sandwich Cookies

As a kid, I consumed Christmas stories like a fiend. A “Christmas Carol” all the way to “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”, I read them all again and again. Somewhere in one of those books, the children woke excitedly on Christmas morning and rushed to see what gifts Santa had left them. I read in disbelief as they emptied their stockings to find oranges and walnuts. Oranges and walnuts?? What the hell? Oranges grew on the tree outside our kitchen window. Who get oranges of Christmas? I’d be pissed.

Later on, much to my amazement, I learned that oranges were quite the luxury in Dickensian England though I much preferred those foil wrapped chocolate oranges that came apart in cute little sections. Since those days, I’ve always chuckled a little at the big piles of oranges, mandarins and satsumas piled up in the grocery stores during the holidays. Truth is, I love oranges. As a much more mature and educated adult (cough cough), I wouldn’t mind a few beautiful satsumas in my stocking. But no walnuts. And candy; there’s gotta be some candy. No wait … I’d still be pissed, ungrateful wretch that I am.

So with those orange-y thoughts in mind, today I’ve taken those flavors, those bright, sweet citrus flavors, and turned them into a cookie. A marmalade spiked cream cheese filling sandwiched between two orange flavored cookies. Here, I like to use orange flower water, a much milder and more natural tasting flavor than orange extract. It gives delicate, flowery notes that compliment the citrus perfectly.

We’re at the halfway point people! Six in and six to go. Hang in there.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: FILL YOUR STOCKINGS. I’d much rather have orange sandwich cookies than a stocking full of oranges and nuts on Christmas morning. I bet Santa would too.

 

2016 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup: Butter Rum Bars, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Coconut Lime Sticks, Cranberry Pistacho Coins, Dark Chocolate Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Hazelnut Buttons, Jam Thumbprints, Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Pecan Triangles, Peppermint Crisps, Rosemary Apricot Shortbread, Russian Tea Cakes

2017 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup to date:
Basic Butter Cookie Dough + planning tips
Day 1 – Cream Cheese Wreaths
Day 2 – Raspberry Linzer Bars
Day 3 – Lemon Poppyseed Buttons
Day 4 – Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers
Day 5 – Mexican Wedding Cookies

 

ORANGE SANDWICH COOKIES
Orange marmalade can be quite chunky – give it a good chop with a chef’s knife to work everything down to small bits.

Basic butter cookie dough – recipe here

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2-3 sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Place some sugar in a small, shallow bowl for dipping the cookies.
2. for the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the room temperature cookie dough, orange zest and juice, orange flower water and sugar. Mix on medium-low until completely blended.
3. Divide the dough into manageable pieces and roll into a thin even layer, about 1/8” thick, between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap.
4. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour. (If refrigerating longer, wrap tightly with plastic wrap to prevent the edges from drying out.)
5. With a 2” cutter (round or square), cut out shapes, dip one side in sugar and place, sugar side up, on the prepared sheet pans 1” apart.
6. Gather the scraps and re-roll/cut, refrigerating if the dough becomes too soft.
7. Bake the cookies until lightly golden brown and crisp, about 7-8 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Keep an eye on the cookies; they brown quickly.
8. Let cool completely.
9. for the filling: in a small bowl with a rubber spatula, vigorously stir together the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange flower water until smooth. (for the larger batches, it may be easier to do this with a standing or hand mixer.)
10. Add the marmalade and mix until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap until needed (can be made 3 months ahead and frozen. Let come to room temperature before using.)
11. To fill: spread 1-2 teaspoons of filling on the non-sugared side of one cookie, top with another cookie (sugar side out) and press gently to adhere. The cookies are best consumed, once assembled, within 3 days as they tend to soften over time.
12. Do ahead: you can freeze the dough at various stages up to 2 months – the dough itself, the rolled out sheets, or the cut cookies and stack with a double layer of parchment between the cookies (frozen cut out cookies tend to stick together with only a single layer of parchment).

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