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Blood Orange Crinkle Cookies give new life to the classic crinkle, with a soft, chewy, deeply orange, cakey interior and a sugar-cracked outside. Crinkles have traditionally been a chocolate cookie, but this new take will rev your engines!
How to make Blood Orange Crinkle Cookies
First, gather your ingredients. For this recipe, you’ll need:
- Sugar
- Blood oranges. These are a variety of oranges that have a deep red flesh and sometimes a mottled blush on the skin. The red juice from them adds a wonderful color to your baked goods!
- Butter. I used salted butter in this recipe, but if you use unsalted, then add an additional 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt to the recipe.
- Egg
- Orange, vanilla (and possibly almond) extracts. In this recipe, orange extract amps up the natural flavor. Vanilla increases the perceived sweetness in things, so adding a bit of paste make it taste a bit sweeter without using more sugar. This vanilla paste, from Taylor & Colledge, includes the seeds, and comes in an easy-to-use tube. I like the addition of almond extract paste in baked goods, but this is optional, so if you don’t like it or have it, leave the almond out.
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt. Diamond Crystal brand preferred.
- All purpose flour
- Orange and possibly red food color. Optional, but will enhance the blush orange color if you wish.
- Orange sanding sugar. Will enhance the orange appearance of the cookie
- Powdered sugar
Add the sugar and zest to the bowl of an electric mixer.
Let the mixer do the work of infusing the oils from the zest into the sugar. You could also do this by hand if you would prefer.
Mix the ingredients into a dough. You’ll add just a touch of orange and possible red food coloring to amp up the color, if you like. Or leave it out if you don’t want it. I tried it here for fun! Next time I might leave out the red, because I think it looks a bit adobe clay to me.
Put the dough into a container to chill it before baking.
Set up your rolling station.
When ready, roll dough into balls, then roll into orange sanding sugar (to amplify color) and then into powdered sugar.
You can try rolling some in both orange colored sanding sugar and powdered sugar, and then some just in powdered sugar. I liked them in sanding sugar first, then powdered sugar, for the best color.
After baking, put them on a cooling rack to cool entirely before packing them into an airtight container to store at room temperature. Notice there is one missing in the bottom left corner? Baker’s choice. Let’s call it “poison control.” These cookies passed!
Let’s bake some Blood Orange Crinkle Cookies, shall we?
Blood Orange Crinkle Cookies give new life to the classic crinkle, with a soft, chewy, deeply orange, cakey interior and a sugar-cracked outside. Crinkles have traditionally been a chocolate cookie, but this new take will rev your engines!
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 blood oranges (zested, and then juiced to make 3 tablespoons juice)
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp. kosher salt), at room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract paste (or use vanilla extract)
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract paste (optional, can omit)
- 1 large egg
- Orange and red food coloring (I used powdered food colors)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal preferred. If using unsalted butter, increase to 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt)
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- .
- Coating
- Orange sanding sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add granulated sugar and zest of 2 blood oranges (about 1 tablespoon zest), and run the mixer on low until the sugar is infused with with oil from the zest, about 1-2 minutes. (You could also rub the zest in with your fingers if you want.)
- Add butter, orange and vanilla extracts (and almond extract, if you are using it), and mix well, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, 3 tablespoons of blood orange juice, a tiny bit of orange food coloring and an even tinier bit of red food coloring (can omit and use no food coloring), baking powder and salt. Mix until well combined. Add flour and mix until just combined. Scrape dough into a covered container and refrigerate 1 hour, or overnight if that is more convenient.
- When ready to bake, arrange 2 baking racks to divide the oven into thirds and turn oven on to 350F degrees. Line 2 sheet pans or baking sheets with parchment paper and silicone baking mats and set aside. Prepare your rolling station by placing orange sanding sugar into a wide, shallow bowl, and powdered sugar into another wide, shallow bowl.
- Portion the dough into 24-26 pieces. Roll each in the palm of your hands into a ball. Roll each ball into the orange sugar, and then the powdered sugar, making sure there is a thick layer of powdered sugar. Place each ball onto the prepared baking sheets, 12 balls per sheet, spaced evenly.
- Bake for a total of 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets between racks and from front to back at the halfway point. Cookies will puff up and look dry, with cracked tops. Remove sheets from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, before removing the cookie to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container on the counter. Makes 24-26 cookies.
Notes
Recipe source: adapted from a recipe at TheKitchn.com.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Crinkle cookies are so fun to make! A great way to get the kids involved, too. The color looks so pretty.
Christie,
They ARE pretty! The whole family loved these at ShockD HQ!
the idea of using two sugar coating sounds addictive. This is going on top of my list to bake during this Spring.
Radha,
The 2 sugars worked out well. The sanding sugar put down the color, and the powdered sugar made the cracks!
These are so cool! What a fun variation on the standard chocolate!
I love the double roll in the sanding sugar and the powdered sugar, never seen that before!
Jolene,
Yeah, I thought that was a good idea to make sure the color was a standout!
I learned something new! Sanding sugar AND powdered sugar from now on with my crinkle cookies! I love the color on these from the oranges! Off to make them!
WHo doesn’t love a crinkle cookie? And a blood orange flavor makes it even better!
Heather,
I completely agree! Orange crinkles are SO FRESH tasting!
I can just imagine how flavorful these cookies are. They look wonderful.
Orange sounds like a great flavor for these cookies! So soft AND chewy!
The color is just gorgeous. I love chocolate crinkle cookies but I’ve never tried them with orange. Must try.
Karen,
I look forward to your rendition!
These cookies are CALLING MY NAME! Anything blood orange is a winner with me!
Erika,
Thank you!