BAKE: Nana’s Orange Creamsicle Dream Cookies
- Creamsicle Cookie Ingredients
- Equipment & Method for Baking Creamsicle Cookies
- Step-by-Step Instructions for Creamsicle Cookie Recipe
- How do I store my creamsicle cookies?
- Related Recipes
These soft, frosted drop cookies are delicately flavored with fresh orange juice, orange zest & vanilla. It’s an easy scoop & bake recipe, updated from an old family favorite… elegant enough for adults but kid-approved!
These orange creamsicle cookies are adapted from an orange juice cookie recipe from my great-grandmother’s collection, and were one of my favorite cookies as a kid! Both my mom and gram made them, and they’re one of the first things I learned to bake.
I’ve tinkered with them a bit and they’re still one of my favorite baked treats, but now all grown up, and flecked with vanilla bean and orange zest. I’ve long lost the original faded index card, and just have my own handwritten one from my childhood notebook of favorite family recipes. I replaced the margarine that was probably in the original recipe with butter (because that’s all we bake with in this house). I’ve also layered in some more fresh orange and vanilla flavor in both the cookies and the frosting so they’re even better with a more developed creamsicle flavor than the originals.
These soft, frosted tea cakes are equally at home on a holiday cookie or dessert plate, when elves drop by at elevenses, or as a sweet afternoon snack. Serve them for high tea alongside elegant finger sandwiches and canapes, or at a kid’s tea party. You don’t need an occasion. Just get out your fanciest dishes and treat yourself… you’re worth it!
Creamsicle Cookie Ingredients
Flour:
All purpose flour will give you light, fluffy and tender cookies with a cake-like texture. You can substitute whole wheat flour for up to half of the AP flour if you are trying to sneak some extra fiber and nutrients in there, but the cookies will be less tender. Up to you!
Sugar:
Regular old granulated sugar is what the original orange juice cookie recipe calls for, and that works just fine. However, if you have a jar of vanilla sugar, feel free to use it! It will add another layer of sweet vanilla flavor and aroma to your creamsicle cookies that you won’t get from just vanilla extract alone.
You’ll also need powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for the orange juice frosting.
What is vanilla sugar, and how do I make some?
So you don’t have a jar of vanilla sugar, but want to start one… it’s simple! As long as you use fresh vanilla beans at least occasionally in your baking (or brewing), that is, or you can also use fresh vanilla pods! Anytime you use a vanilla bean (infusing in milk or pastry cream, for example), rinse any dairy off the bean, pat it dry, and put it in a jar with some granulated sugar. Beats throwing out that vanilla flavor, unless you sleep on a bed made of gold bricks, or something… have you SEEN the price of vanilla these days?
Pro-tip… check home brew supply stores, or online… They often have better prices on bags of bulk vanilla beans for a much better price than the grocery or spice shop. They might not be the same exquisite Madagascar beans, but they still are going to give your homemade extracts, infused sugars, and other sweet treats a more complex flavor than you’d get from just the little bottles of weak extract from your local supermarket. Or, if you have a generous budget, you can get the Nielson Massey extract, paste, or beans that are just delicious.
I use a wide-mouth mason jar for easier access, but any airtight container will do. Make sure you get as much moisture off the bean as possible so your sugar doesn’t get all clumpy (if it does, you can use a moisture absorbing silica packet in the jar, or a sachet or tea bag filled with white rice). Shake the jar occasionally and keep layering it with sugar and vanilla beans, and top it up with new sugar whenever you take some out. Voila, you now have perpetual vanilla sugar!
Orange:
I definitely remember making these cookies with either regular orange juice, or the frozen concentrate from a can as a kid. Now, I try to only use freshly juiced oranges, along with freshly grated zest, in both the cookies and the frosting. It makes a huge difference in the taste, though of course, you could make them with the regular stuff if that’s what you have on hand, or omit the zest if you’re using pre-made juice. It was good enough for Nana! The zest does add a depth of flavor and some visual interest though, so add it if you can!
Other ingredients:
You’ll also need a large egg, baking soda and baking powder, butter, vanilla extract or paste, and salt for the cookies, and more butter, orange juice, vanilla, and confectioner’s sugar for the frosting.
For the frosting, you can add a teaspoon of orange liqueur if you have any on hand (triple sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier). If you don’t have this or prefer not to use the alcohol (it’s not any more than adding vanilla extract), you can increase the orange juice or vanilla by the same amount.
Equipment & Method for Baking Creamsicle Cookies
cookie sheets or half-sheet pans and liners:
I like to bake my cookies on half sheet pans with silicone liners. Parchment paper works great too! If you have non-stick pans, you can use those instead, or use a bit of butter or pan spray on regular pans to make sure that your cookies don’t stick.
cookie scoop:
A cookie scoop is optional, but makes portioning out uniform cookies, well, a piece of cake(y cookies). You can also use a regular spoon or a tablespoon to drop the dough onto your baking sheets. The recipe yield of 3 dozen cookies was measured using a #70 1/2 oz Vollrath portion scoop. If you use a larger scoop, you will get less but larger cookies.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Creamsicle Cookie Recipe
step one: cream butter, sugar, & zest
-
Preheat the oven to 400 ℉.
- In a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and orange zest. Whip until light, fluffy, and uniformly mixed.
step two: add liquid ingredients
-
Add the egg, orange juice, and vanilla, beating after each addition. The mixture will separate- this is ok. It will come together when you add the dry ingredients.
step three: dry ingredients
-
In another medium mixing bowl, whisk or sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together.
step four: mix cookie batter
- Add the dry ingredients to the liquid mixture in three additions, mixing gently and scraping the bowl between each third. Do not over mix – stop when the dry ingredients are just incorporated and the thick creamsicle cookie batter is uniform.
step five: scoop & bake
- Scoop the batter onto a cookie sheet (buttered, nonstick, or lined with parchment or a baking mat). Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop for uniform cookies, and leave room for them to spread.
-
Bake for 9-11 minutes in a 400 ℉ oven until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges and just set in the center. They will be soft, but will firm up a bit as they cool.
step six: make frosting
-
Cream together all frosting ingredients. Start with 2 tbsp of orange juice, and add another teaspoon or two if the frosting is too thick to easily spread after mixing in all the other ingredients. It will be a thick buttercream consistency that you can easily spread on the cookies.
step seven: ice the cookies
- Frost the cookies once they are cooled using a small spatula or butter knife.
step eight: garnish
- Grate fresh orange zest over the tops of the cookies before the frosting sets, or decorate with sprinkles, sanding sugar, or nonpareils. You may want to add the zest to the frosting for extra orange flavor if you are decorating with sprinkles instead.
How do I store my creamsicle cookies?
It’s best to store these iced teacakes in a single layer in an airtight container. If you let the frosting set up completely first, you can carefully layer them with waxed paper or plastic wrap in between the cookies.
They should keep for up to a week at room temperature, if they last that long! You can also wrap them and freeze them for longer storage. Thaw them at least a few hours before you need to serve them, since you can’t use the microwave or oven to warm them up without melting the frosting.
Nana's Orange Creamsicle Dream Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar (optional: vanilla bean infused sugar)
- ⅔ cup butter softened (10 ⅔ tbsp, or 5.7oz)
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup orange juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Simple Vanilla-Orange Juice Creamsicle Frosting
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
- 2 tbsp orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
- 1 tbsp salted butter, softened (or add ¼ tsp salt)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or ½ tsp vanilla paste)
- 1 tsp grand marnier, cointreau, or triple sec
- orange zest (to garnish, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 ℉.
- In a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and orange zest. Whip until light, fluffy, and uniformly mixed.
- Add the egg, orange juice, and vanilla, beating after each addition. The mixture will separate- this is ok. It will come together when you add the dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, whisk or sift the dry ingredients together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the liquid mixture in three additions, mixing gently between each third.
- Scoop the batter onto a cookie sheet (buttered, nonstick, or lined with parchment or a baking mat). Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop for uniform cookies, and leave room for them to spread.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges and just set in the center. They will be soft, but will firm up a bit as they cool.
- Let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Vanilla-Orange Juice Frosting
- Cream together all ingredients. Start with 2 tbsp of orange juice, and add another teaspoon or two if the frosting is too thick to easily spread after mixing in all the other ingredients. It will be a thick buttercream consistency that you can easily spread on the cookies.
- Frost the cookies once they are cooled using a small spatula or butter knife.
- Grate fresh orange zest over the tops of the cookies before the frosting sets, or decorate with sprinkles, sanding sugar, or nonpareils. You may want to add the zest to the frosting for extra orange flavor if you are decorating with sprinkles instead.
- The frosting will firm up somewhat as it sets but it's best to store these cookies in a single layer if possible.