Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Orange and Pecan Sugar Cookies

Orange and Pecan Sugar Cookies

As much as I love my cookbooks and magazines, there are times when only a recipe posted by one of my favorite foodies will do - times when I need to be 100% sure about the result of my cooking adventure. My fellow food bloggers’ opinions mean a lot to me and I know I can rely on them.

I felt an urge to bake and that urge included oranges – I don’t even know what happened to me that day, since I’m never that specific. I usually think of a hundred different things to make, then I go back and forth with flavors.

When I saw Nic’s orange and pecan sugar cookies I knew my search was done. Her recipes are amazing and work out beautifully every time.

If you are a citrus lover like me, do yourself a favor and bake these. I mean, bake these NOW.

Orange and Pecan Sugar Cookies

Orange and Pecan Sugar Cookies

1 medium orange (any kind)
½ cup (113g) butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (300g) sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (350g) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (100g) pecans, toasted and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 190ºC/375ºF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Zest orange and add grated zest (about 1 tablespoon)* to butter mixture, along with 3-4 tablespoons fresh orange juice (squeeze from remaining orange). Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, blending it in at a low speed until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in pecan pieces.
Drop dough onto prepared baking sheet in rounded ½ tablespoon-portions, leaving about 2 inches/5cm between cookies. Bake for 9-12 minutes, one baking sheet at a time, until edges of the cookies are lightly browned.
Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 dozen

*I halved the recipe and still added 1 tablespoon of zest; it yielded 32 cookies

Orange and Pecan Sugar Cookies

31 comments:

  1. I'm seeing citrus everywhere this week and I love it! These look amazing, and with pecans, perfect!

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  2. Orange and pecans, what a great combination! It might be something in the air, because I've been drawn to citrus lately, too.

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  3. Really fantastic cookies! and nice to combination of orange and pecans.
    Perfect!
    Silvia

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  4. Oh, my! I'm going to have to make these cookies! They look and sound delicious!

    Paz

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  5. Hi, hi!
    Lovely cookies :-)

    I have awarded your blog with the E award! Feel free to check out my post to get the badge! :)

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  6. I'm almost always guaranteed something yummy when I make something from a fellow blogger. These cookies look sure to impress!

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  7. You are the cookie queen! As always, these look delicious. Who eats all of the wonderful cookies you bake?

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  8. These look wonderful! I have been on a cookie high lately (it's like cookiefest 2008 at my house right now), so I won't be able to try these for a while, but they look like they'd be worth the wait. I love citrus flavors. Mmmm!

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  9. I like the sound of using orange in cookies!

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  10. Allen's right, you are a cookie monster haha! We wouldn't have it any other way :D

    I am already thinking of subbing in brown for the white sugar for chewier cookies :)

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  11. orange cookies? I can't say no! lovely way to enjoy cookies.

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  12. Now those are what you call sugar cookies! Oranges and pecans sound fabulous.

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  13. Well, you know, I DO love a good cookie! Thanks for tempting me yet again, Patricia!

    paola

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  14. They are so tempting, I'm going to have to make some; like this week!

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  15. So interesting and intriquing! Never thought of these orange for a cookie. mmmm. :)

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  16. Orange pecan sounds like such a great flavor combination.

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  17. I love when you make cookies, you always seem to find the best recipes!

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  18. Allen says you are a "cookie monster":) Looks like he is right, your cookies look perfect! Looks delicious. !!

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  19. One of my favourite flavour combinations. This recipe I will of course have to try!

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  20. It looks like a lot of bloggers are using oranges this days. Awesome! Love it but... do you deliver? ;-)

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  21. You always have such great flavor combos for your cookies. These look great, Patricia!

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  22. We seem to think alike a lot. I made something with oranges today too. You sometimes forget how good an orange can be.
    These look delicious.

    By the way, I made a browned butter sage pasta dish last night. MMM...

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  23. It must be in the air because I was thinking about baking something with oranges. These sound just fantastic!

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  24. LyB, I'm a sucker for citrus. And cookies. :)

    Hannah, my dear, how great to see you here!

    Silvia, thank you!

    Paz, I do hope you try them!

    Jo, I'll be checking it out, tks!

    Deb, it's a win/win thing. :)

    Lydia, thank you - I like that! :)
    I share them with my family, Joao's family, his coworkers and my coworkers as well. :) OH, and the girls from the beauty salon. :)

    Sara, you have been baking some beautiful cookies, keep up with the good work. :)

    Kevin, I like it too. :)

    Mark, I am!! :)
    Your idea sounds wonderful, my friend.

    Arfi, thank you for your visit!

    Susan, they go so well together!

    Paola, I love a good cookie, too, sweetie. :)

    Hi there! I hope you like these!

    Chris, it worked out wonderfully!

    Julie, it is!

    Pam, you are far too kind, sweetie, tks!

    Farida, thank you for the kind words about me you left on his blog. It means a lot to me.

    Dayna, do that. :)

    Zen, I'd bake you a huge batch if you lived nearby. :)

    Kristen, I'm a cookie monster, according to a fellow blogger! :)

    Emiline, you know what they say, great minds think alike. :) And for what you have posted since I started visiting you, we do share many preferences.

    Gigi, really? I'm sure something delicious will come out of your kitchen.

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  25. I like that you were brave enough to keep the zest and cut the recipe--looks like it yielded some wonderful results!! You got them to the exact point of brown-on-the-edges that I love!!

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  26. I love baking recipes from someone i can trust. Your cookies look just right.

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  27. You do such a good line is lovely cookies :)

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  28. I can practically taste these. Oranges are so good at this time of year. MMMmmmm.
    I’ve awarded your blog an “E for Excellent”. Go to my Feeding My Enthusiasms site at http://feedingmyenthusiasm.blogspot.com to see the post. You were an easy choice because you combine simplicity and great photos.

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  29. These look delicious!

    Of course you're welcome to post about the ranger cookies!

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  30. Hi Patricia,

    I just made these and they are seriously addictive. We're not going to discuss how many I've eaten. Both flavors, the toasty pecans and the orange come through loud and clear and compliment each other beautifully.

    I have a question about the amount of sugar. You show the volume as 1 1/2 cups, yet the metric weight as 200 grams which I believe is 1 cup. I used 300 grams and the cookies came out perfect.

    Thanks as always for being so generous in posting all these delicious recipes and photographing them so well that you make them look irresistible.

    Yours,

    Ellen

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  31. My dear Ellen,
    You are right - I am glad you actually ended up using the right amount. Thank you for pointing that out - I have corrected the post.
    xx

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