For a sweet treat try these Blood Orange Cardamom Cookies. Simply drizzled with a little icing, these soft chewy cookies are a must to make when blood orange season comes around.
These cookies are aromatic and moreish. The blood orange glaze, or icing, is naturally pink from blood orange juice. They really are such a pretty and easy little biscuit to make.
Of course you can be a little more heavy-handed than I with the icing. You could cover the top of the cookie completely. Or go one step further and top the icing off with some pretty sprinkles.
If you don't have access to blood oranges use general oranges and make orange cardamom cookies instead. Add a little pink food clouring plus orange juice for icing. They will be just as delicious and pretty.
Sara xxx
What's in this post
Ingredients
- Plain Flour: Use general baking/all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder: Helps the cookies rise to the occasion.
- Butter: I use salted with this recipe. You can use unsalted, but add a pinch of salt when adding the flour to the cookie dough mix.
- Caster Sugar: Also known as superfine sugar. Or try raw caster sugar for a more caramelised cookie.
- Egg: Free range is best.
- Ground Cardamom: Adds a subtle spice element to the cookies. You could substitute with nutmeg, for a different, but just as delicious result.
- Icing Sugar: Or icing sugar mixture can be used for the glaze/icing.
- Vanilla Extract: Can be substituted with vanilla essence.
- Blood Oranges: Juice and zest is used. If not in season substitute general oranges.
More Blood Orange Recipes
My love affair with blood oranges is a long one. Next to yuzu they are my favourite citrus, and I can't wait for blood orange season to come around.
Below are some other blood orange recipes for you to enjoy, both savoury and sweet. Standard oranges can be replaced for blood oranges in all of the below recipes.
- Easy Baked Ocean Trout Fillets with Blood Orange Marinade: A healthy low fat recipe that can be used with salmon or your favourite fish fillets.
- Blood Orange Chiffon Cake: Light as air and topped with pink fluffy Persian fairy floss.
- Blood Orange Negroni Popsicles: Taste Magazine gave my recipe a one page feature in their January 2015 print issue.
- Flourless Blood Orange Chocolate Cake: Rich, moist, and fragrant, topped with syrupy orange slices.
- Blood Orange Almond Cake: Flourless and a basic comforting cake. This recipe works well with mandarins too.
- Tomahawk Pork Chops: A delicious pork dish made with the addition of blood orange, garlic, and rosemary.
- Candied Whole Blood Oranges: Make this ahead of time for a hidden orange Christmas pudding Heston Style.
How to Pick Blood Oranges
It can be really disappointing to cut into a blood orange and discover there isn't any blood-red flesh and juice. When picking blood oranges choose ones that have firm skin, are fragrant, and most importantly have a red blush to their skin.
Recipe Instructions
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.
You can use a stand mixer or hand beaters for this recipe.
Place sugar, butter, vanilla, and blood orange zest in a stand mixer bowl or normal medium-size bowl mixing bowl.
Add an egg to the creamed butter mixture. Beat at a medium speed until the egg has been incorporated into the butter mixture.
Add flour, baking powder, ground cardamom, and blood orange juice to the bowl.
Mix at a medium speed until the mixture comes together and is completely combined. Don't over-beat the cookie dough. Stop mixing as soon as all the ingredients are completely incorporated.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the oven to chill for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled roll balls of dough (tablespoon size) and place on a lined baking tray. Press down the tops slightly with your fingers. Then bake in a pre-heated oven (180°/360°F) for 15 minutes or until they are a light golden brown colour.
Once the blood orange cardamom cookies are baked, leave them to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before icing.
To make the blood orange glaze, or icing, place icing sugar and blood orange juice in a bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. For a runnier glaze add a little more juice. Add less juice for a thicker icing.
Place icing in a piping bag to pipe lines or swirls of icing on the tops of the cookies. Alternatively, cover the cookie completely using a spoon or icing spatular.
When are Blood Oranges in season?
In Australia, blood oranges can be found at your local greengrocer as early as July. Generally the season runs from August to October.
In the USA the season runs from December to April.
Printable Recipe
Blood Orange Cardamom Cookies
Ingredients
- 125 grams (4.4 oz) butter | softened
- 165 grams (¾ cup) caster sugar
- 3 teaspoons blood orange zest | 1 blood orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 220 grams (1 ½ cups) plain/all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons (8 teaspoons) blood orange juice
Blood Orange Glaze/Icing
- 150 grams (1 cup) icing sugar
- 2 - 4 tablespoons blood orange juice
Instructions
- You can use a stand mixer or hand beaters for this recipe.Place sugar, butter, blood orange zest, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer bowl or normal medium-size bowl mixing bowl.
- Add an egg to the creamed butter mixture. Beat at a medium speed until the egg has been incorporated into the butter mixture.
- Add flour, baking powder, ground cardamom, and blood orange juice to the bowl.
- Mix on at a medium speed until the mixture comes together and is completely combined. Don't over-beat the cookie dough. Stop mixing as soon as all the ingredients are completely incorporated.Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the oven to chill for 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat oven (180°/360°F) and line baking trays with baking/parchment paper.
- Once the dough has chilled roll balls of dough (tablespoon size) and place on a lined baking tray. Press down the tops slightly with your fingers. Bake for 15 minutes or until they are a light golden brown colour.
- Once the blood orange cardamom cookies are baked, leave them to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before icing.
- Place icing in a piping bag to pipe lines or swirls of icing on the tops of the cookies. Alternatively, cover the cookie completely using a spoon or icing spatular.
Blood Orange Glaze/Icing
- Place the icing sugar and blood orange juice in a bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. For a runnier glaze add a little more juice. Add less juice for a thicker icing.
Oven Temperatures
All oven temperatures are fan forced.
Measurement Notes
All measurements are Australian metric standard. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified. 1 teaspoon = 5ml / 1 tablespoon = 20mls / 1 cup = 250ml /4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
Recipe Notes
In the USA the season runs from December to April. GENERAL COOK’S NOTES All oven temperatures are fan-forced, increase the temperature by 20 Deg C (70 Deg F) for convection ovens. All measurements are Australian tablespoons and cups. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified.
- 1 teaspoon equals 5ml
- 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml (Nth America, NZ & UK use 15ml tablespoons)
- 1 cup equals 250ml (Nth America use 237ml)
- 4 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon
- I use the below unless specified in my recipes.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The recipe's nutritional information is an approximation based on an online calculator. It is meant solely for reference purposes. If you're looking for precise details, be sure to double-check with your own research.
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