The Great Cookie Experiment – Orange Dreams

The Great Cookie Experiment – Orange Dreams

 

I have seen several versions of this cookie floating around the internet, and I have been excited to try this one.   This is an orange cookie with vanilla chips and the idea reminds me of a dreamsicle- orange on the outside, creamy vanilla on the inside.  Mm.  Dreamsicles.   I think this is why these cookies are named Orange Dreams.  I’m pretty sure.

 

The cookies were a little dry- they stayed roundish instead of flattening out the way I like them to.  They tasted very good, and most everybody liked them.  I wanted MORE orange, however.  There’s only a bit of grated orange rind in the dough, so there was the occasional hint of orange, but for me there wasn’t enough.  Maybe a splash of orange juice and bit more orange peel would add more flavor, and solve my dry cookie problem in the meantime.  I would say, however, that this is a cookie that would be pretty reliable- it tastes good, and is unique enough that people will be impressed with it.

Orange Dreams

 

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbl grated orange peel

2 ¼ cups flour

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups vanilla or white chips

 

Cream butter and sugars.  Beat in egg and orange peel.  Combine the dry ingredients, and gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Stir in vanilla chips.  Drop by rounded Tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes about 4 ½ dozen.

The Great Cookie Experiment – Elven Lembas Bread, aka Shortbread cookies

The Great Cookie Experiment – Elven Lembas Bread, aka Shortbread cookies

This is not a cookie experiment, because it’s a basic shortbread cookie.  I’m sharing it however, because it was my daughter’s birthday, and she wanted a Lord of the Rings party.   There were a bunch of teenagers coming over to my house, and I figured food was probably a good idea.  We set up a Lord of the Rings feast, with foods that may have been from, or at least inspired by the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.  We had meat pies from the Inn of the Prancing Pony, crisp fried potatoes from the Shire (aka potato chips), Dwarven Ale (homemade cream soda), Vegetables from Farmer Maggots crops, Apples from Buckleberry Orchards, an Elven cake from Rivendell, and of course Elven Lembas bread.

 

In the books, Lembas bread is supposed to fill you up after just one bite.  It is made by elves, so it’s probably pretty yummy.  I figured that Shortbread cookies would fit the bill pretty easily.  It’s yummy, and it has a ton of butter in it, which is enough to fill you up after just one bite.  Perfect, right?

 

There are no surprises here with this recipe.  I made the dough, rolled it out, cut it into squares and baked it.  If I had looked harder, maybe I could have found some banana leaves or something to wrap them in, but I was satisfied with just putting them on the plate.  Five teenagers were there at the party.  Except for a few my husband and I snitched, they ate every cookie.  About two dozen of them.  They also ate both bags of “crisp fried potatoes”, all but two meat pies, all the vegetables and left two apple slices.  I’m glad there weren’t six of them!

 

Either way, the “Lembas Bread” was a hit.  It will be for you, too.

Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

¼ tsp salt

Beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth.  Beat in vanilla.  Mix the flour and salt together, and add to the creamed mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for an hour.    Roll out onto a floured surface, and cut into desired shapes (in this case, square).  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes.  Makes about 2 dozen.