Orange Spritz Cookies

Babies.
They're everywhere.
Maybe they've always been everywhere, or maybe I just have baby goggles on. But they're definetly around in massive quanities lately.
I know more women who are pregnant right now than ever before and I can't wait for those things to pop out!
Your friends having babies is the best, it means you get to play with them and buy them cute clothes, and then still give them back when you're done. Ha. It's wonderful.
Recently we had a baby shower for one of these women, which gave me the perfect opportunity to use the new cookie press my mom had got me!
I didn't have much time, which was fine because these little spritz cookies mix up super fast. And the only problem I had was getting them to sick to the pan and not the press, but I think I may have added a little too much flour. That whole being in a hurry thing makes me do silly things. I dusted the cookies with a little bit of blue sugar to make the flowers a little more boy-like, since the shower was for a baby boy, and they were perfect!

Orange Spritz Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon orange rind, finely chopped
1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
Makes: About 5 dozen cookies.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolk and orange juice. Mix in flour, orange rind and optional pecans. Mix until combined. Dough should be soft, but not sticky. Place dough into cookie press, and using desired shapes, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on cooling grid and remove from cookie sheet.

Source:Wilton's Recipes

Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but orange and cranberry has to be one of the best flavor combinations ever. In pretty much every form. I'm all about it.
Now add oatmeal, and other deliciousness, and you've got yourself one awesome cookie.
The orange flavor is so prominent, it really adds that little bit of extra that other oatmeal cookies are missing.
And they're not even that bad for you!
Well...in cookie terms.

Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup of dried cranberries

½ cup orange juice

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter, room temp

3 tbls of honey

1 large egg

1 ½ cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

3 cups of oatmeal

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon orange zest

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine the cranberries and orange juice in a small bowl, cover and let stand while you make the cookies. Beat the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in honey and egg then add the cranberries and orange juice.

Combine flour, soda, powder and salt in a separate bowl and enthusiastically whisk together. Toss in the oatmeal, walnuts and orange zest and whisk some more.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and blend together till just right. Drop loving spoonfuls onto lightly oiled baking sheets and bake for about 8-10 minutes, depending the size of your cookies.

Source:The Go Lightly Gourmet
Photos by Keegan Orange

Cranberry Orange Bread

It always seems kind of weird to me that you can only buy fresh cranberries about two months out of the year. Sure, a lot of fruits have certain seasons that they're more accessible, but you can usually find them somewhere year round. Not cranberries though, unless you're okay with frozen. But fresh cranberries are so much better than frozen.
And what goes amazing with cranberry?
Orange.
And what can you get when you mix cranberry and orange?
So much deliciousness, this bread included.
I chose to omit the nuts since I didn't happen to have any on hand, but I'm sure they would be delicious. This bread came out perfectly moist and not too sweet. Although, next time I think I would add just a little bit more orange to compete a more with the cranberries.
Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (50 grams) pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 cup (120 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest (outer skin of orange)
4 tablespoons (57 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, well beaten
3/4 cup (180 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Grease (or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray) a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the beaten egg with the orange juice and vanilla extract. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped cranberries and nuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then remove the bread from the pan and let cool completely before slicing. This bread can be frozen.

Makes one - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.
Source:Joy of Baking
Photos by Keegan Orange