ITALIAN ORANGE JUICE COOKIES

Italian Orange Juice Cookies

Italian Orange Juice Cookies: another traditional cookie that's a must in any complete collection of Italian cookie recipes!

Course Dessert

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 7 minutes

Servings 72 cookies

Calories 78kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 225 grams (1/2 lb) vegetable shortening (I use Crisco)
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 tsp baking powder
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• marschino cherry halves or almonds for topping (optional)

Instructions

• Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350F.  Have maraschino cherries and/or almonds ready, if using. 
• In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to beat together the eggs, sugar and vegetable shortening. 
• Stir in the orange juice and vanilla.
• Combine the flour and baking powder and gradually stir into the egg mixture until incorporated. You'll have a sticky, thick dough.
• Shape the cookies by using two spoons to scrape one heaping teaspoon full of dough into a bowl of powdered sugar. Turn over to coat both sides. Carefully pick up the dough, shake off the excess sugar, and roll gently into a ball. Place on the baking sheet approximately two inches apart.
• Press half a maraschino cherry or a whole almond in the center of the cookie. Alternately, you can leave the cookie plain if you prefer.
• Bake for 20-22 minutes until lightly browned underneath and golden on top. Cool before serving.

Notes

-Please note that nutritional information is not completely accurate and may vary according to the size of your cookies and whether you add maraschino cherries or almonds to your cookies.

-If you are using maraschino cherries, slice in half and place on a paper towel in order to absorb the excess liquid.  Otherwise they will bleed on the cookie.

-You can replace vegetable shortening with butter, however it may slightly alter the texture.

-The dough is quite sticky so avoid over handling it.

-These cookies will spread while baking so be sure to space two inches apart on the baking sheet.

-Italian Orange Juice Cookies can be frozen in a tightly sealed container.  Defrost about an hour before serving.