Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Orange Cardamom Holiday Cookies for Kids Cancer

   This time of the year there's usually a whole lot of baking going on. Lots of holiday parties, family celebrations, open houses, pot lucks, and what have you. This is also the time of year when the Good Cookies at OXO  invite everyone to be Good Cookies For Kid's Cancer. This year OXO is donating up to $100,000.00 to support new and improved therapies for pediatric cancer treatment, and they're inviting you to get involved  here's how you can help. In the spirit of good cookie baking, they sent me this Good Cookie Spatula and invited me to share a favorite cookie recipe.


The recipe I'm sharing is for a cookie with holiday flavors of orange and cardamom. I've also got a gluten free and vegan version here, the only difference in the recipe is the topping added at the end.

Orange Cardamom Cookies


Here's What You Need:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter (or vegetable shortening for vegan version)
10 Tbs of powdered sugar
3/4 cup of almond flour
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs of all purpose flour  (substitute this with 1/2 cup of chickpea flour and 2 Tbs of sorghum flour for Gluten Free version)
1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
1/8 tsp of salt
the grated zest from 2 oranges
1/2 cup of finely chopped pistachios
4 Tbs of superfine sugar
parchment paper

Here's What To Do: 

Sift together the different flours, salt, cardamom powder and the zest from 1 orange. Set aside.


Gently cream together the softened butter or shortening and sugar.


When it's all blended together add in the dry ingredients a bit at a time.


Mix everything together. This dough can get a bit sticky and loose, but work with it a bit, roll it into a ball, wrap it in some plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge to rest for about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place the chopped up orange zest in a bowl with 4 Tbs of superfine sugar.


Mash the zest and sugar together. You can use a mortar and pestle. I used my fingers as it was faster.


Take the cookie dough out of the fridge.
Knead it briefly, about 3 or 4 turns.
Roll it into a ball again and break off a small piece of dough.
Roll the piece into a ball.
Place it on the parchment paper
Press down on the ball of dough with a finger or thumb.

Sprinkle a bit of the orange zest and sugar mixture, and a pinch of the ground pistachios on top of each cookie.


Bake the cookies for about 25 minutes. They should be light on the top and slightly brown on the bottom.
Place them on a baking rack.
They're soft when they come out of the oven but firm up while they cool.

When they cool, serve them up. They're great with hot chai.

   I've baked these cookies both gluten free and vegan and they work either way. They're a great thing to include on a holiday party table for your gluten free/vegan friends. So thanks to the good folks at OXO for letting me add to their cookie recipe collection and help support their good work. Coming up next, more holiday feasting. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

7 comments :

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, hey're also really easy and fast to make

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  2. Thanks Belinda... I love these cookies!

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. This recipe looks absolutely delicious, with unusual, complex flavors. I've got a batch in the oven right now, waiting to be finished baking and sampled.

    But there are some problems with the writing of the recipe:

    1. No yield or amount is given. I got about 30 very small cookies from one batch.

    2. There are no instructions saying how much batter should be used for each cookie or the size of each cookie (e.g., use 1 tsp. of batter for each cookie, or the balls should be about 1" in diameter), so I wasn't sure how small or large to make them. This is a very important omission, as the temperature and length of cooking time would affect different sizes very, very differently, perhaps leaving the smaller ones overdone or burned, or the larger ones undone in the middle.

    3. There is no mention about how to space the cookies on the cookie sheet. From the pictures, I couldn't really tell what would happen to their shape and size once baked, how much they would or would not spread. Consequently I spaced mine too close; I peeked into the oven after 10 minutes or so and was very dismayed to see that they had all spread into each other. I'm very disappointed because they may taste great (can't wait to try them!), but they're not very pretty, and they were to be a holiday gift for someone.

    Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. Jem,
      I'm so sorry you had problems with the recipe. The amount of cookies you got was correct , the batch makes about 30. The dough balls are about 1 inch across dented a bit with the finger then are placed on the sheet about an inch or so apart. As long as they're not pressed down too much they won't spread.
      Cooking time is about 25 minutes, the cookies are still on the soft side when they come out of the oven, they firm up as they cool. I usually pick one up on my spatula and peek at the bottom to see if it has any color. That's when I know they're ready to come out.
      Different ovens can do different things and I've found often when following others recipes I may need to cook something longer or a shorter period of time depending on how my oven may differ from someone elses.
      I hope you like the taste, if there's any other way I can help let me know.

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