Spiced Orange Cookies

When it comes to the holiday season, I love making (mostly, eating :-D) cookies. Realistically, I love eating cookies all year round. My favorite thing to do in the morning is dipping a cookie in my chai when nobody is up. Eating a cookie with my tea or chai is a ritual I enjoy and brings me a lot of peace. However, baking does not.

In my everyday work life, I use a lot of data and have a very structured way of working. So, when I think of my kitchen, I want to be creative and unstructured. I really want cooking to be place I express myself without having to think. Because of this, I convinced myself that I couldn't bake. The moment I start thinking that I can't do something, I have this urge to prove myself wrong. So I started experimenting. What I have realized over this year is that I crave structure and that I can bake.

Making your own rules doesn't make you unstructured. Learning to figure out what I like to bake made me realize this. As you enjoy the holidays and step into 2022, I urge you to find something you dislike (or find difficult) and do it. It may surprise you. Worse case scenario, you still didn't like it but discovered something new about yourself.

Ingredients

Dry

1 1/2 C of Almond Flour

1 1/2 C of Oat Flour

1/4 C of Raw Granular Sugar or Coconut Sugar

1/3 C of Brown Sugar

1 Tsp of Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp of Salt

1 Tsp of Cloves

1 Tsp of Ground Ginger

Zest of 1 Orange

Wet

1 Egg

3-4 Tbs of Milk

1/2 C of Softened Butter

1/2 Tsp of Vanilla

Optional

Chocolate Glaze

Methods

In a bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda, and the spices. Using a spatula combine all the ingredients. Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the egg, butter, sugar, and milk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until everything is well combined. *I use a hand mixer while baking and it works great.

Cover the bowl and put the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. You can leave this in the fridge for 24 hours. Cooling the dough will make your cookies chewy while giving them a perfect rise.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a large spoon or a cookie scoop, drop the dough on to the baking sheet. If they are cooled I like to roll them into a ball and press them down with the back of a spoon. Make sure you leave enough room between each cookies as these will rise and spread.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Once they are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for 5-10 minutes. After the cookies have cooled, transfer them to a wire rack.

If you are adding the chocolate glaze, make sure the cookies cool completely (about 20-30 minutes).

Notes:

For the chocolate glaze, omit the orange zest unless you don't mind a heavier orange flavor.

If you want to make these a boozy adult cookies, add 1-2 Tbs of bourbon to your chocolate glaze.

You can make these vegan. Just swap the egg for a flax egg, use plant based milk, and swap the butter for vegan butter or coconut oil.