Clementine Butter Cookies

Clementine Butter cookies are amazing, or as one family member said, ‘these are addictive’. I didn’t even use the orange liquer! I decided to roll the rough into balls then flatten them (vs. rolling them out and using a cookie cutter). Either way, these cookies are worth making. They were gone in a couple of days with kids, grandkids, etc.

Clementine Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated clementine zest (about 3)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• For the glaze:
  • 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • small pinch table salt
  • 1 tablespoons orange liqueur (I used more clementine juice)
  • 1 tablespoon half and half
  • 1–2 tablespoons juice from clementine

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the sugar butter and zest on medium speed until well blended, about two minutes. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing until well blended after each addition. Add vanilla extract and orange extract and mix until well blended. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until little moist clumps form, about one minute.
3. Divide dough into two equal piles and form dough into smooth balls. Using your hands, knead dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to three days ahead.
4. When ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet.
5. Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough on a well floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick. Using cookie cutter of your choice (I used a 2-inch circle), cut out shapes. Arrange them about 1-inch apart on the cookie sheets. Re-roll and cut out dough scraps until you’ve used all the dough.
6. Bake the cookies in preheated oven about 10 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the sheet about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
7. While cookies are cooling, prepare glaze by combining powdered sugar, salt, orange liqueur, half and half and 1 tablespoon of clementine juice. Add more clementine juice, if necessary, to make a nice spreading consistency.
8. Top each cookie with about 1 teaspoon of the glaze, using the bottom of a spoon to spread the glaze to sides of cookies. Let cookies sit at room temperature for at least an hour until glaze is set. Serve cookies immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 or 4 days.

Recipe from MountainMommaCooks