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

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