Cardamom Orange Sour Cream Cookies with Candied Citrus Peel

These Cardamom Orange Sour Cream Cookies with Candied Citrus Peel are a must for your holiday cookie tray! The cookies are soft with a touch of tang and don’t require you to roll out the dough or even chill it!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Dang! Christmas is SIX days away? Where did December go?? Can I be honest with you? This holiday season went by so fast that we didn’t even get around to putting our tree up (eeep!). And I’m not even close to being done with my holiday shopping. The one thing I did make sure I got around to though was making holiday cookies because OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO MAKE HOLIDAY COOKIES! What was that? You didn’t make any yet this year? Fear not because there is still time this weekend to whip up a batch and may I suggest you start with these Cardamom Orange Sour Cream cookies? Think sugar cookies but without the rolling out and chilling and with a pillow-y texture and a slight tang.

People talk about moments sticking with them from their childhood – usually a movie that made an impact or maybe dancing to a favorite song. But a moment I remember vividly from when I was 11 was biting into a pillowy soft cookie that my teacher made and I was floored at how delicious it was. I begged to know what the secret was and you know what she said? Sour cream. Right then and there I made a mental note that I loved sour cream cookies. Now that I’m an adult and have control of my own kitchen, I’ve added sour cream cookies to my normal holiday cookie rotation (and think you probably should too!).

I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose flour and Almond Flour in this recipe. The little bit of almond flour helps yield a tender cookie and gives it a slight nutty flavor. You could use festive holiday sprinkles instead of citrus if you didn’t want to make the candied citrus but it brings together the flavors nicely since there is also orange in the cookie. Finally, make sure you let the cookies cool completely before adding the frosting so the frosting doesn’t melt off the cookie.

Print

Almond Cardamom Orange Sour Cream Cookies with Candied Citrus Peel

These Cardamom Orange Sour Cream Cookies with Candied Citrus Peel are a must for your holiday cookie tray! The cookies are soft with a touch of tang and don’t require you to roll out the dough or even chill it!

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp almond extract (can sub vanilla extract if you’d prefer)
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Flour
• 2/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp milk

For the candied citrus:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

Instructions

For the cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1 Tbsp sugar in a small shallow bowl and set aside.
   

2. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy and pale in color, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, almond extract (if using), and orange zest until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream until incorporated.
   

3. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, almond flour, cardamom, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Slowly pour into the mixer bowl while the mixer is running on low speed and mix until combined.
   

4. Drop tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheet, keeping 2 inches in between each cookie. Wet the bottom of a glass with water and dip it into the sugar in the shallow bowl. Press into each cookie to flatten, re-wetting and dipping in sugar after each cookie to keep it from sticking.
   

5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until starting to brown around edges. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before adding frosting.
   

For the frosting

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla extract until incorporated. Add milk, 1 Tbsp at a time, and beat for an additional 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
   

For the citrus peel

1. Use a peeler to remove off long strips of the orange peel until all of the outer layer is removed. Use a sharp pairing knife to slice peel into 1/4 inch wide strips.
   

2. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil over high heat. Add orange peel strips and let boil until translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove peels with a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack, separating each piece so they don’t stick together as they dry.
   

3. When ready to assemble. frost each cookie using a spatula and add 3-5 strips of orange peel (depending on how many your orange yielded).