Best Gingerbread Cookies With Orange Almond Essence Recipes

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, add the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and lemon juice.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• When the butter and sugar are integrated, lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture and when blended, remove the bowl from the machine. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press the first half of the dough in between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second half. This step will make it easier to finish rolling out the dough when it has chilled. It will also mean you only have half of the dough getting warm as you roll it.
• Lightly flour a flat surface. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the first half of the dough about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly flour the cookie cutter(s) and cut the shapes, making as few scraps as possible. Use a metal spatula to gently transfer them, cookie by cookie, (the cookies should be similar size) to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and transfer them to another baking sheet. A note about crowding the tray(s): these particular cookies can spread a little. Leave room between the cookies. Better to use 3 baking sheets with fewer cookies than to crowd them on 2 trays. Bake until brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Got scraps? Form the scraps into a ball, press it flat and chill in the refrigerator. These cookies may be a little more "tough" because the dough will have been worked a little more than the others. Why not have a little frosting on your gingerbread?
• In a medium bowl add all of the ingredients and whisk together to combine. If too thick in consistency, add a touch more orange juice or water to thin out.
• Use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the frosting between 2 of the gingerbread cookies. Press the 2 cookies halves gently together.
• Variation: I love springerle, the German anise-flavored cookies, for the delicate molds (and carved rolling pins) used to make them. I have made this recipe with springerle molds with stunning results. The kind of cookies that make people marvel at how great they look before they eat a half a plate of them! Simply dust the decorative molds (or rolling pin) with flour, shaking lightly to remove any excess. Roll the dough very thin (between 1/2 and 1/4-inch thick). Press or roll the dough into the molds and trace the shapes with a sharp knife to extract the cookies. Arrange them on a greased baking sheet (with some space between them) and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Not using molds? Scoop the batter in teaspoons and roll them into balls. Press the balls onto a greased baking sheet or press with the tines of a fork to make ridges. Bake until brown around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. These cookies are so beautiful, they can stand alone. Or...make gingerbread sandwiches using the above frosting as the filling...

ORANGE GLAZED GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer or hand mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and molasses until combined and creamy, about one minute.
• Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until creamy and well combined.
• Continue beating on low speed while slowly adding the dry ingredients. Stop beating once the dough comes together and is no longer crumbly.
• Split the dough in half then press each half into a disc between two layers of parchment paper, put it in a large plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate for at least three hours, but no more than 72.
• Once the dough is chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a large baking sheet or two with parchment paper and set aside.
• Lightly flour a flat surface and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough until it is approximately 1/4-inch thick. Cut the cookies out, stamp them if desired, and transfer to your baking sheet(s) separated by at least one inch. *I used a circular cookie cutter that was three inches in diameter. Keep in mind if you use a different size cookie cutter the yield will be different.
• Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the ingredients for the orange glaze in a small/medium-sized bowl until smooth.
• Once cooled, dip the top side of the cookies in the glaze, shake off any excess, and place them on a sheet of parchment paper (you can recycle the same pieces of parchment paper you used to bake the cookies atop.

ORANGE SPICED GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• in large mixer bowl combine brown sugar, 1/3 cup butter, molasses, egg and orange peel. beat at medium speed scraping bowl often until smooth and creamy.
• add remaining cookie ingredients, reduce speed to low. continue beating scraping bowl often until well mixed.
• cover refrigarate at least 2 hours.
• heat oven to 375*F.
• roll out dough 1/2 at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigarated), on well floured surface to 1/4inch thickness.
• cut into 3 to 4 cookie cutters.
• place 1inch apart on greased cookie sheet.
• bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched.
• cool completely.
• in small mixer bowl combine all frosting ingredients, beat at low speed, craping bowl often until fluffy.
• if desired color frosting with food coloring.
• decorate cookies with frosting.

BIG ALMOND-ORANGE-GINGER COOKIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-by-11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Spread almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet; bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely. Transfer to a food processor; pulse until finely ground. Whisk together flour, salt, and cardamom. Whisk in almonds. In a separate bowl, stir together marmalade and lemon juice.
• Beat butter with sugar, orange zest, and ginger on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; beat on low speed just until clumps begin to form, about 30 seconds. Press 3 packed cups of mixture into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Spread marmalade mixture over crust. Crumble remaining flour-butter mixture over top, creating clumps. Bake 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and continue baking until light golden brown and firm, 25 to 30 minutes more. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let cool completely. Remove cookie from pan, running a spatula between cookie and base to release. Serve, with fruit, chocolate, and sorbet. Store cookie in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

CRUNCHY ORANGE-ALMOND COOKIES (N'ZUDDI)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Let cool.
• Set aside 36 almonds. Grind the remaining almonds to a coarse powder in a food processor or in small batches in a coffee grinder. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and sift in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
• In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar until blended. Beat the egg, then beat in the orange zest, juice, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the flour-almond mixture.
• Pinch off a tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into a ball between the palms of your hands, and place 3 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Flatten the balls to 1/2 inch thick under your palms, then gently coax the edges inward to create a loose square shape. Press a whole almond in the center of each cookie.
• Bake the cookies for 30 to 35 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans, then cool on a rack. The cookies will become very crunchy as they cool.