Orange Crinkle Cookies

December 29, 2023 By Olga Babitskaya

Prep Time: 10m

Cook Time: 10m

The secret to getting those perfect fissures on orange crinkle cookies comes down to a specific coating trick. You need to roll the dough in granulated sugar once, and then in powdered sugar twice. This triple-coating method ensures your cookies crack beautifully and stops the powdered sugar from melting away in the oven—a frustrating problem I dealt with constantly before figuring this out.

Ingredients

Cookie dough

• 75 g granulated sugar
• zest of 1 orange
• 35 g unsalted butter, mild
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tbsp orange juice (freshly squeezed)
• 70 g flour
• 50 g almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 50 g powdered/icing sugar

For rolling the cookies

• 50 g granulated sugar

Instructions

Preparing the Orange Crinkle Cookie Dough

1. Mix the granulated sugar and fresh orange zest in a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar; this helps release the natural oils and really infuses the dough with that vibrant citrus flavor.

2. Whisk in the softened butter and vanilla bean paste until fully combined, then whisk in the egg.

3. Stir in the orange juice until the mixture is smooth.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the wet mixture.

5. Fold everything together with a spatula until you have a smooth, batter-like consistency.

   Note: The dough will be quite soft and sticky. Resist the urge to add more flour—this texture is exactly what you need for soft, chewy cookies.

6. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or even overnight if you want to bake the next day. This step is essential because it makes the dough manageable and stops the cookies from spreading too much in the oven, helping them keep their shape.

Shaping Your Orange Crinkle Cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Scoop the chilled dough into balls, using about a tablespoon for each one. You should get roughly 10-12 cookies.
3. Roll each ball in granulated sugar first, then give it a thorough coat of powdered sugar. To guarantee those distinct cracks, roll each cookie one more time in the powdered sugar. This layering is exactly what creates that signature snowy look on the baked treats.

Baking the Orange Crinkle Cookies

1. Place the dough balls on your prepared baking sheet, leaving about 4-5cm of space between them.
2. Bake at 180ºC for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should puff up and develop that characteristic cracked surface. You’ll know they are done when the cracks look dry rather than wet or shiny.
3. They will still be very soft right out of the oven. Let them cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes so they can firm up before you carefully move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.