Orange Tea Cookie

So I wouldn’t have a red ring around my cookie, last night, I drained & dried the maraschino cherries to make sure they were ready for my cookie day today. My fear was that they were going to disappear overnight to my child who could eat the entire jar of them if I let him. A 6am refrigerator check gave me relief that he didn’t sneak any! I had all my ingredients and made sure to pick up orange extract and oranges earlier in the week. However, I was just shy of the 3 cups flour needed. I probably could have winged that but then I couldn’t double the recipe as I planned. After an early morning hockey game I ran to the store for more flour. With Shelly’s post yesterday and my grocery run today, I think I’m ready for a bulk shopping trip for the standard ingredients so I’m not caught off guard again. I did have whole wheat flour too and wonder if it would have worked out like Shelly’s cookie did?

I thought I’d multitask a little bit. So while I was coaching a Science Olympiad practice at my house I challenged the kids to see who could finish first: me preparing the cookie dough or them taking their test. The time was 16 minutes ~ we both went into overtime!

Everything seemed to go smooth until it was time to roll the dough into balls. The dough was too soft so I just dropped them on the cookie sheet, sprinkled confectioner sugar on top, placed my cherry on that and baked. After they came out of the oven I covered the cherries and dusted again with more confectioner sugar. They taste delicious but didn’t look the pretty, pretty I was trying to achieve like the cookbook picture. Determined to make them look better, I added more flour to the dough but had the same results. However, after several cookie sheets of lopsided ta-tas I decided it was time to try the chill method.

Much, much better results as the dough easily rolled into balls and finally came out like I hoped. Whoo-whoo! However, I compare confectioner sugar to glitter. It is beautiful and fun to work with but my kitchen & myself look like we bathed in it! It is a dainty, delightful cookie with just a hint of orange that tastes so delicious! I also like how soft it is. What I learned is sometimes a cookie just takes a little practice & persistence to get it just right! Danielle “Phoebe”

P.S. I apologize to Danielle’s family as I sent home the first, imperfect, batch out of the oven.