Description
These Orange Clove Christmas Cookies are festive spiced shortbread treats bursting with warm spices and bright citrus notes. The buttery dough is infused with honey, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, clove, and allspice balanced by fresh orange zest and juice. The soft, pliable dough is stamped or cut into shapes, baked until just lightly browned, then glazed with a zesty orange and Cointreau icing that crisps beautifully in the oven. Perfect for holiday celebrations, these cookies offer a delicate crunch with a rich, aromatic glaze that’s both elegant and delightfully traditional.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 170 g butter, softened
- 2 tbsp (40 g) honey
- 2 tbsp (40 g) fancy molasses
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large orange, zested
- Few dehydrated orange rings, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger (or more, to taste)
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (or more, to taste)
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- A pinch of clove
- A pinch of allspice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (300 g) flour
Glaze
- 1 and 1/4 cup (about 150 g) icing sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) orange juice (or slightly more)
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) Cointreau (or slightly more)
- A little pinch of clove
Instructions
- Cream the wet ingredients: In a bowl, using a mixer, cream the softened butter, honey, molasses, vanilla extract, and salt on medium speed for around one minute, until well combined and fluffy.
- Add spices and orange zest: Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, clove, allspice, and orange zest to the creamed mixture. Beat for about 10 seconds just to incorporate the spices evenly.
- Mix in the flour: Gradually stir in the flour, first mixing with a whisk, then transitioning to a spoon until the dough forms. The dough will be soft, pliable, and slightly sticky. Adjust consistency by dusting with a bit of flour if too sticky or adding drops of water or milk if too tough. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Shape dough for stamped cookies (optional): If using a cookie stamp, shape small dough balls (1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon) and dust both the dough balls and the stamp lightly with flour. This helps prevent sticking when stamping.
- Stamp the cookies: Press the flour-dusted stamp firmly down onto a dough ball until it flattens and spreads to the edges of the stamp. Carefully lift the stamp to reveal the stamped design. Transfer the cookie to a lined baking sheet. Trim any uneven edges with a smaller round cookie cutter and reuse scraps.
- Alternative shaping method: If you do not have cookie stamps, roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters.
- Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (approximately 175°C). Arrange the cookies on a lined baking sheet with some space between each.
- Bake the cookies: Bake the cookies for about 10-14 minutes depending on their size and your oven until the edges are slightly browned. Aim to slightly underbake them, as they will be returned to the oven later after glazing.
- Prepare the glaze: While the cookies bake, whisk together icing sugar, orange juice (starting with 2 tablespoons), Cointreau (starting with 2 tablespoons), and a pinch of clove in a small bowl. Adjust the consistency with more juice or liqueur if needed until the glaze is thick yet pourable, similar to runny honey.
- Glaze the cookies and finish baking: Once baked, remove cookies from the oven and let cool slightly until easy to handle, but keep the oven on. Dip each cookie quickly into the glaze or pour glaze over them on the baking sheet. Return the cookies to the oven for 2 minutes with the heat on, then turn off the oven and leave cookies inside for another 1-2 minutes. This technique creates a crisp, crackling glaze.
- Cool and store: Let the cookies cool completely. Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container for storage. Enjoy these festive, spiced treat cookies!
Notes
- You can adjust spice levels to your taste, especially ginger and nutmeg.
- If you prefer an alcohol-free glaze, substitute Cointreau with extra orange juice.
- Dusting dough and stamps with flour helps prevent sticking without adding extra sugar.
- Reusing dough scraps helps reduce waste—just re-roll and cut again.
- Undercooking slightly before glazing ensures a softer center with a crispy glaze finish.
- Store cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness and crispness.
