Small Batch Soft Orange Cookies
Learn how to make these delicate and fruity Small Batch Soft Orange Cookies with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting using orange marmalade. Perfect to add to your holiday cookie tray!
With the holidays coming up, have you started thinking about your cookie list yet?
Last year I wrote about How To Make The Best Christmas Cookie Tray. In that post I talk about needing a variety of textures and flavors.
One cookie recipe you NEED to add this year is these Soft Orange Cookies with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting!
They’re really easy to make with some orange marmalade added to both the dough and the frosting.
They’re soft and delicate, a nice change up from the usual chocolate chip and gingerbread. This small batch recipe makes roughly 9 cookies. A little more than half a dozen but less than most recipes which make several dozen at once.
I know the term small batch and Christmas cookies don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but this allows you to bake up a variety of cookies without going overboard.
If you’re like me, I only have a handful of people I see for the holidays. Serving 5 dozen cookies means many cookies wasted!
There is some good and bad news with this recipe. Bad news is you have to wait for the dough to chill.
The good news is you can make it ahead of time and store in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve. That helps make your holiday planning less stressful.
As I mentioned, this recipe makes 9 cookies.
In order to make such a small quantity, that means using 1 egg yolk, which leaves you with an extra egg white.
I wrote about what to do with egg whites so it doesn’t go to waste.
I highly recommend making my Flourless Chocolate Cookies (also perfect for the holidays!)
To give these cookies their orange flavor, I used a fruit spread made with fresh fruit pieces.
For the frosting, I cut my Cream Cheese Frosting in half then added some orange marmalade.
This gives the cookie some tang and creaminess on top to complement the soft texture underneath.
Bonus – With Halloween soon, you can add some black sprinkles on top for Halloween colors!
Small Batch Soft Orange Cookies
Learn how to make these delicate and fruity Small Batch Soft Orange Cookies with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting using orange marmalade. Perfect to add to your holiday cookie tray!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup orange marmalade
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- Pinch of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange marmalade
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla then beat in the fruit preserves.
- Gradually beat in the flour mixture until incorporated and a dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap then refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a #40 cookie scoop or by hand, roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls then place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and set. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- For the frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese for 30 seconds or until combined then add powdered sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in the fruit preserves and vanilla. If the frosting is too runny, refrigerate for 15 minutes and/or add up to an additional 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Frost cooled cookies.
Notes
- Since you'll have a leftover egg white, check out my post on what to do with egg whites.
More Soft Frosted Cookies For The Holidays
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A great alternative to my usual go to cookies.. Will bake these soon.. :O)
Enjoy! Let me know how they turn out.
I baked these today… I didn’t use the frosting on this batch as, I wanted to taste the cookie itself first..
Wonderful recipe and I will frost them next bake..These didn’t last very long..
Thank you… :O)
Yes the cookies are delicious even without the frosting! Glad you enjoyed them :D
I’m not much of a baker, but I think I could make these! And although I don’t like orange marmalade, I actually have a few jars because I accidentally ordered a case of 6 from Amazon! The price seemed reasonable to me because it’s a British brand. I’ve given two away, and now I can’t even remember why I bought the marmalade – it was for a recipe. Oh well. I’ll just have to make these cookies!
Guess it was for these cookies ;) Let me know what you think!
These look delicious! One question, if I want to double the recipe do I just double all the ingredients and use 1 whole egg instead if just the yoke? Thanks for the recipe.
Yes, that is correct.
Can I freeze cream cheese. I have to buy 8oz package and may not need the other 6oz for awhile.
In theory yes, but it alters the texture greatly so you would need to use the frozen cream cheese in something where you want it melted, like a dip or casserole. You wouldn’t be able to reuse it for frosting or for cheesecake because the texture would be too gritty. I have a bunch of cream cheese recipes listed separately. That should help you use up those extra 6 ounces! https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/tag/cream-cheese/
Another big win. Baked these on short notice for some guests and they were great! Stayed soft, great icing, and not a ton of leftovers. Great recipe!
Awesome! Happy to hear they were a hit.