Orange Creamsicle Roll-Out Cookie Recipe

After making the popsicle cookies in my previous post, I thought it would be fun to try a new cookie recipe flavor to match that theme — Orange Creamsicle roll-out cookies.

Orange Creamsicles always remind me of my childhood days of summer. So I figured now would be the perfect time to try to recreate them in cookie form. Basically, I took my standard roll-out sugar cookie recipe, subbed out half of the sugar measurement for Tang orange powdered drink mix, and added mini white chocolate chips (I found them at Whole Foods.) for a creamy accent. Let me tell you, they smell and taste like the real thing!

One thing to note though. With any roll out cookie recipe that calls for adding chocolate chips, you run the risk of the edges not being perfectly sharp and smooth. However, a recipe like this one is a nice alternative to try on occasion. If you would like to try these yourself, I wrote out the Orange Creamsicle roll-out cookie recipe below.    

Ingredients

• 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup Tang orange powdered drink mix
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup mini white chocolate chips

Instructions

Step 1

In a mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and Tang. Mix until well incorporated.

Step 2

Add egg and vanilla extract. Mix until it is all well incorporated.

Step 3

Add flour, mixing a cupful at a time, to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. After everything is well mixed, the dough should be non-greasy to the touch. (Add a half cup of flour if the dough is still sticky to the touch.)

Step 4

Add mini white chocolate chips and fold them into the dough until they are evenly distributed.

Step 5

Roll to 1/4 inch thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. (I love my Joseph Joseph rolling pin because the guides take the guess work out of wondering if your cookies are the correct thickness and evenly rolled out.) After rolling, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Step 6

Once the dough is well chilled and hard to the touch, cut out shapes and place them on a parchment paper-lined, light-colored baking sheet.

Step 7

Bake at 375 for 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from the oven before the first indication of the edges turning brown. The top of the cookies should have a matte finish and not greasy. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Step 8

Remove cookies from the baking sheet with a spatula and place on a cooling rack to cool before decorating.

Just a reminder on achieving perfect cutout cookies that hold their shape after baking:

• This is just a theory of mine, but try to mix the tang/sugar and butter mixture only until it is well incorporated. If you mix it until it's light and fluffy it might cause more spreading.
• Make Sure the dough is well chilled before cutting them with a cookie cutter. The dough should feel hard like a cold piece of cheddar cheese.
• Also, chill again (even freezing will work) the cutout cookie shapes before placing them in the hot oven.

I used this Orange Creamsicle Roll-Out Cookie recipe to decorate the following cookies below. Stay tuned in the next day or so when I will show you how I decorated the ice cream truck cookies to go along with the popsicle cookies I posted previously.