Orange Pecan Cookies

Course Cookies

Cuisine American

Servings dozen

Delicate enough for afternoon tea with tea in china cups, but hearty enough to serve with a glass of milk after a tough day at school, Orange Pecan Cookies make the perfect treat anytime.

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Ingredients

½ cup softened butter I prefer to use unsalted butter if possible.
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 teaspoon vanilla
1¾ cups all purpose flour All purpose flour is also known as plain flour
¼ teaspoon salt This can be omitted if you are on a low salt diet.
½ teaspoon baking soda Baking soda is also known as bicarbonate of soda or bicarb.
¾ cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl.
Add the egg, and then the orange rind and vanilla. Set aside.
Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into a medium bowl. Stir through the chopped pecans.
Add the flour and pecan mixture to the creamed mixture and stir together very thoroughly.
To form the dough into ‘logs’, take a large piece of waxed or greaseproof paper or baking parchment and sprinkle a little flour on it. Flour your hands a bit as well.
Take a third of the cookie dough and put it in the centre of the piece of greaseproof paper.
Using the paper to help you, shape the dough into a log about 11 to 12 inches (28 to 30 centimetres) long.
Repeat this process with the two remaining thirds of the dough, using two fresh sheets of greaseproof paper and making two dough logs.
Wrap the paper or baking parchment tightly round each log of dough.
Place the cookie dough logs in a bag and put them the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
The next day, either freeze the dough, or bake it from chilled. (Cookie rolls will keep in the fridge for 3 days or for at least a month in the freezer.)
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F or 175°C (160°C for fan ovens).
Meanwhile, remove the cookie dough logs from the fridge or freezer. You might want to give the logs a bit of a roll on the worktop before you unwrap them, just to round the edges. Sometimes the bottom goes a bit flat when they sit in the fridge.
If the logs are frozen, give them at least 5 minutes to warm up before you attempt to slice them. Be extra careful not to cut yourself when you are slicing these firmer dough logs.
Cut slices about one quarter inch thick (half a centimetre) and place them on baking sheets a few inches apart.
These cookies don’t spread all that much, but be sure to space them at least an inch apart. Each log will make about 15 to 20 cookies depending on how thickly you slice them.
Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes from chilled (or 11 to 14 minutes from frozen) until they are lightly golden. It’s worth keeping an eye on them because they can suddenly brown up very fast.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and leave the cookies to cool for at least five minutes before carefully removing them from the baking sheets with a slice or spatula. Cool on wire racks.

Notes

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Equipment

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