Citrusy-orange butter cookies are coated in tiny gray-blue poppy seeds and baked until lightly golden and tender. As neat as a pin and absolutely beautiful, these works of art are actually super easy to make (our secret!). They are absolutely delicious too with the nutty crunch from the poppy seeds complementing the soft, citrus cookie perfectly. Your friends and family will love this delectable treat for the holidays or any time of year!
To start, preheat the oven to 350 deg F. In a standing mixer or bowl, beat one cup of room temperature butter with ¾ cup of granulated sugar until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add one whole egg, 1½ teaspoons of orange extract, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the zest of one large orange. Mix to incorporate. Lastly, add the flour and ½ teaspoon of salt and mix until combined. Scoop the dough out onto a long (18-inch) piece of parchment paper and using your hands shape the dough into a log about 14 inches long and 1½ inches wide and evenly thick throughout.
Wrap the log in the parchment paper and roll the log gently back and forth on the counter to round the edges and form a cylinder. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for one hour to firm. After one hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap (but keep on the parchment paper) and sprinkle all sides with poppy seeds, 3 tablespoons in total.
Roll the log in the poppy seeds, pressing them until the entire log of dough is well coated.
Slice the log of dough into ¼ inch wide cookies and place on baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden brown. This recipe makes 36 cookies.
Orange Butter Cookies with Poppy Seeds
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1½ tsp orange extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- zest from one large orange
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F.
- In a standing mixer or bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg, orange and vanilla extracts and zest and mix until well incorporated.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until combined.
- Scoop the dough out onto a large, 18-inch piece of parchment paper and shape the dough into a 14-inch long, 1½-inch round log.
- Wrap the dough in parchment and gently roll the dough back and forth on the counter to round out the edges of the dough, making a perfectly round cylinder.
- Refrigerate the dough for one hour.
- After an hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap (but leave the dough on the parchment paper).
- Evenly sprinkle the dough with poppy seeds, rolling and pressing the dough into the seeds until the dough log is completely coated.
- Slice the log into ¼-inch round cookies and place on baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
- This recipe makes 36 cookies.
