Florida Cookies

All week long, Jon has been saying that we should do an orange-macadamia cookie. But I wasn't wild about that idea because I thought it would be too similar to the Hawaii cookie (recipe to be posted soon).

So what to do? Focus on the orange, of course. And where do oranges grow? Florida! But what else is a cookie-able product from Florida? A quick Google search turned up a helpful map of Florida's produce. And that's how I got it: an orange and pecan cookie...with a white chocolate drizzle for good measure.

(Oh, and for those of you who don't know whether it's pronounced "pee-can" or "pee-kahn," check this out!)

Jon's allergic to most nuts, but he tried these anyway and gave them his "bring-in-able" stamp of approval. And our doorman Jason agreed. So far, Jon's throat hasn't closed up, so pecans must not be on his "no" list of nuts.

I use my old trick of trippling the citrus content with zest, extract, and juice to make these cookies really orangey.

Makes about four dozen. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Florida Cookies.)

Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 cups brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	2 egg yolks 3/4 cup orange juice 1 1/2 tablespoons orange extract 1 tablespoon orange zest 1 teaspoon vanilla
Dry Ingredients	3 cups toasted pecans 3 3/4 cups oatmeal 1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping	2 cups melted white chocolate chips 1/2 teaspoon orange extract orange-colored dusting sugar

1.    Preheat oven to 350º.

2.    In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.

3.    In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.

4.    Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.

5.    In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.

6.    Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.

7.    Refrigerate dough for 10-15 minutes.

8.    Shape cooled dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.

9.    Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.

10.  Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

11.  Mix together the melted white chocolate chips and orange extract and transfer to a zip-top bag.

12.  Snip the corner off of the bag and drizzle the white chocolate mixture over the completely cooled cookies.

13.  Before the white chocolate drizzle hardens, sprinkle orange-colored dusting sugar over the cookies. The sugar crystals will stick to the white chocolate topping.

Comments

[Lorraine]

What a creative combination!! This looks really delicious. Any openings for doorman position on Sunday night in your building?

[In-Young]

these are the best cookies EVER! the perfect balance of sweet and citrus! i looooove them and i dream about them. greg, after i botch the recipe, will you make another batch?

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks for the cookie-love, In-Young. I have faith that you won't botch these, but I'll gladly make you another batch if you do.

[DPLK]

Hi OCG!! I made these a while ago and really loved them! I goofed a bit and used quick cooking oats (1-minute) rather than my usual old-fashioned oats because I was trying to get rid of them, and I think it made the cookies a little more "mealy" than they otherwise would have been, but they were still delicious and chewy after they were fully cooled. Citrusy, crunchy buttery pecans, sweet white chocolate....mmmmmm--you're awesome at coming up with good flavor combos. I'll definitely be making these again in the future =) Hope everything is going well with you! Happy holidays!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks, DPLK! :-)