Family Favorites...Orange Cheese Cookies

Crisp, citrusy, not too sweet, this recipe from "Farm Journal Homemade Cookies" is a big hit at our house.  These cookies are perfect with tea or coffee, and are a relief from overly rich holiday cookies.  We like these in the summer, too, with iced tea.  A perfect use for this RS Germany cookie plate.

Preheat your oven while you mix these, and then bake them without chilling.  Dough that is too cold doesn’t press out very well.  You can use whatever shape you like, although we like them the way the recipe calls for, as ridged bars. These can be lightly glazed with thin powdered sugar frosting if desired.  Be sure to grate your orange peel finely so it doesn’t clog up your press - take short strokes on your orange.  Like all shortbread-type cookies, these are best if left to ripen a day.  They keep well.

I purchased my current cookie press at our church thrift shop for $2 – it was complete with box and recipe book!  I haven’t found any press that works better than the ‘50’s Mirro cookie press.  Kids enjoy pressing out cookies too, and you get a fancy cookie that you can put right on the cookie sheet and bake.  This is one place where parchment paper doesn’t work well, the cookies won’t stay in place as you press them out.  Remember, you can scoop any mistakes back into the press and do them again.

                          Orange Cheese Cookies

  1        Cup  Butter, room temperature

  3        Ounces  Cream Cheese, room temperature

  1        Cup  Sugar -- 7 ounces

  1        Large  Egg

  1        Tablespoon  Grated Orange Peel

  1        Tablespoon  Orange Juice

  2 ½    Cups  Sifted All Purpose Flour -- 10 ounces

  1        Teaspoon  Baking Powder

            Dash  Salt

• Combine butter and cream cheese; beat until light.  gradually add sugar, eating until mixture is fluffy.  Beat in egg, orange peel and juice to blend thoroughly.
• Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to creamed mixture, blending well.
• Put plate with narrow slit in cookie press.  Put a fourth of the dough into press at a time and press rows of strips of dough about 1" apart onto ungreased baking sheet.  With a knife, mark strips into 2" lengths.
• Bake at 375° for 8 to 10 minutes, until very delicately browned.  Immediately cut strips into pieces on knife marks.
• Remove cookies and cool on racks.

6 dozen     2014 Cost:  $2.25 or 4¢ per cookie.

Per Serving: 54 Calories; 3g Fat (50.6% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 37mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.