Orange butter cookies

I do not own this recipe, This recipe belongs to Stephanie from joyofbaking.com, I have modified original recipe to use oranges instead of lemon. This recipe does not use any sort of flavoring agent and completely organic substances. Thanks Stephanie for this lovely buttery treat.

All credit goes to Stephanie for this wonderful buttery cookies.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon (6 grams) freshly grated Orange zest (outer orange skin of Orange) (about 2 Oranges)

14 tablespoons (200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature (used Low fat butter)

2 large egg yolks (35 grams), at room temperature

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour

Orange Glaze:

1/2 cup (55 grams) confectioners sugar (powdered or icing sugar), sifted

1-2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice.

How to do it:

In a small bowl mix the sugar with the orange zest.

In the a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until creamy smooth (1 - 2 minutes).  

Beat in the egg yolks. Scrape down the sides of your bowl as needed.

Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat just until the mixture starts to form large clumps. 

Make nice smooth round of dough, divide the batter in half and shape each half into a log that is about 6 inches (15 cm) long and 2 inches (5 cm) wide. 

Wrap each log in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until firm (at least four hours or up to three days). (Can freeze the unbaked logs for up to two months.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Once the logs have become firm, with a sharp knife, slice each log into 1/4 inch (.5 mm) thick cookies. 

Place the cookies on your baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. 

Remove from oven and let them cool

Orange Glaze (Optional)

Place the confectioners sugar in a small bowl. 

Add enough Orange juice to make a mixture that flows slowly from your spoon. Drizzle the tops of the cookies with the glaze. Let dry for about 1-2 hours before placing in an airtight container.

Variations from my side:

1. I used Nutrilite/Amul lite butter (low fat contents)

2. Since butter already has some salt I didn't used any salt with flour.

3. Cookie dough became little bit soggy, so I added 2 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp powdered sugar 

to make sure dough does not become sticky and holds its shape.

4. you can cut them in any size/shape. I used rectangular shape, since my daughter loved rectangular cookies more :)