Soft Orange Creamsicle Cookies
Just like grabbing an orange creamsicle from the ice cream man, these orange creamsicle cookies will feel nostalgic but also just dang delicious. Sweet orange, vanilla and white chocolate chunks.
I’m old enough that when I went to kindergarten, everyone just went for the whole day. In the afternoons we had a nap at school, and when we woke up I remember often being able to eat ice cream we ordered before we went home. If I wasn’t getting the Mickey Mouse with the chocolate coated ears I was 100% getting an orange creamsicle.
I love orange, it was my favorite flavor of many things growing up. To this day if there is something orange cream flavored on a menu I’m probably going to pick it. That’s why I wanted to create a cookie version of it. I wanted the cookie to be soft and sweet and orangey with pops of cream flavor.
I combined orange zest, a special orange vanilla extract/oil, white chocolate and mascarpone to create this soft, creamy, sugar cookie bursting with orange and creamy vanilla flavors. I’ve also made some other orange bakes that evoke the same flavor: Orange Cream Pound Cake, Sweet Orange Focaccia so other than just making an ice cream recipe, orange creamsicle cookies obviously were next.
Baking Notes & Tips
If you’ve ever seen a creamsicle ice cream bar, you know they are a bright orange. While the orange zest does help these orange creamsicle cookies a little bit in the color department, I did add a little food coloring. This is COMPLETELY optional. I know lots of people don’t love food dyes, and your cookies will be delicious and perfect without them. If you choose to use them, you don’t need much. I used gel coloring and literally added ONE drop of orange. If you have traditional non-gel, a few drops is probably all you need to add a bit more orange.
This recipe does have a chilling period for the dough and I wouldn’t recommend skipping it. I tested these chilling the dough at 2 hours, and then baking again later. 2 hours is the minimum and baking before then could lead to thinner cookies/spreading too much.
Orange Creamsicle Cookies Key Ingredients
- Fiori di Sicilia – This stuff is sort of magical if you love this flavor profile. It’s one of my favorite extracts, although it’s not really an extract as it’s a combination of oils. It’s citrus and vanilla, with hints of floral and spice. Now, for these orange creamsicle cookies you could substitute a blend of vanilla and orange extract. That being said, if you love orange and vanilla, get some of this. I have used this in breads and scones, cheesecakes and whipped creams. It’s pretty versatile.
- Mascarpone – Many people have added cream cheese to a sugar cookie. I’ve done it myself. Cream cheese has that tang though that I didn’t want in this particular recipe. Mascarpone has always felt more creamy and velvety than cream cheese with a slightly sweeter and milder taste. That is perfect when you want your cookies to taste creamy.
- White Chocolate – You can use white chocolate chips if you must, but I guarantee you a chopped white chocolate bar like a Lindt or Tony’s will elevate the taste of these cookies tremendously. TRUST!
Ingredients
- 1 md-lg Orange
- 200 g Granulated sugar 1 cup
- 113 g Unsalted butter ½ cup, room temperature
- 113 g Mascarpone cheese 4 oz, room temperature
- ½ tsp Fiori di Sicilia or ½ tsp vanilla, ½ tsp orange extract
- 1 large Egg room temperature
- 1-2 drops Orange food coloring optional
- 270 g AP flour 2¼ cups
- ¾ tsp Sea salt
- ¼ tsp Baking soda heaping – see notes
- ¼ tsp Baking powder
- 125 g White Chocolate ~4 oz, chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add your flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and whisk together. Set aside.270 g AP flour | ¾ tsp Sea salt | ¼ tsp Baking soda | ¼ tsp Baking powder
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat and set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add your sugar and zest your orange into the sugar.1 md-lg Orange | 200 g Granulated sugar
- Using your fingers, rub the orange zest into the sugar and releasing the oils within the zest. The sugar will become fragrant and begin to change color a bit as well as becoming a sandy texture.
- Add your butter and mascarpone to the orange sugar and mix on medium speed until combined and slightly fluffy (about 3 minutes).113 g Unsalted butter | 113 g Mascarpone cheese
- Add your egg and fiori di sicilia and mix into the dough well.1 large Egg | ½ tsp Fiori di Sicilia
- If using food coloring, add now and incorporate in until it's evenly mixed into the dough to your desired color.1-2 drops Orange food coloring
- Add your dry ingredients into the wet and mix on low until JUST combined. Do not overmix.
- Add your chopped white chocolate to the dough and mix in with a rubber spatula. Personally, I like to reserve about â…• of the chopped chocolate to add a few pieces to the tops of the scooped dough but this is optional and purely aesthetic.125 g White Chocolate
- Scoop your cookie dough onto your baking sheet and cover. The bake times in this recipe are based off of a #30/2tbsp cookie scoop.
- Place your cookie dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours but up to 24 hours.
- When your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Transfer some of your cookie dough to a new baking sheet with parchment and bake on the center rack of your oven for 12 minutes.
- Remove your cookies from the oven when the cookies look set and the edges are just lightly browning.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Store your cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Enjoy!
