Description
Wonderfully fragrant with citrus zest and almonds, these blood orange icebox cookies are a fancy version of slice and bake cookies dipped in icing.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 blood orange, zest and juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the almond extract.
- On low speed, mix in the orange zest, flour and salt. When it is almost combined, but you can still see a little flour, fold in the sliced almonds.
- On a lightly floured work surface, shape the dough into a 12” long, 2″ x 1-1/2″ rectangle.
- Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight until firm.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before using a sharp knife to cut the dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the cookies on the sheet pan spacing them 1 inch apart.
- Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes until they start to turn light golden brown. Keep the cookies on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the icing, whisk together 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons blood orange juice. If the mixture seems too thick, add more juice. If it is too runny, add more sugar.
- Dip the cookies in the icing or drizzle their tops. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to let the icing set.
Notes
The blood orange can be substituted with another orange variety, 1 lemon or 2 limes.
You can keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.
You can freeze them the following ways:
Freeze the cookie dough log wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and then put it in a bag or another container. Thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator. After that, slice and bake the cookies.
Slice the log then freeze the unbaked cookies. Place them on a sheet pan lined with wax paper to freeze them individually. Then put them in a container. You do not need to thaw before baking. The cookies might take a couple additional minutes to bake.
Freeze baked and iced cookies. Thaw at room temperature.
Adapted from Everyday Food July/August 2006
Keywords: icebox cookies, refrigerator cookies