So so sorry for the late
Avid Baker's Challenge post. The last few days leading up to the
bake food sale I organized at work for the quake victims in Japan were extremely busy. Thanks to many volunteers, we were able to pull off a fund raising where we sold dessert items as well as savory food items for lunch. I cooked a healthy lentil/veggie soup that sold really well (got lots of recipe requests for that). I also baked a few items, including this month's
ABC item,
Zebra Cookies. Only I ran out of time, so I had to choose between skipping the cookies all together, or "be creative". So I skipped the chocolate part. I know, I know, I'm a bad ABC-er! I ended up making an orange version with the vanilla dough. Luckily, the other ABC-ers did a great job following the rules and making the beautiful looking Zebra Cookies :o) You can find them
HERE.
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| Orange butter cookies with festive sprinkles |
In case you're wondering, we raised $921 at the fund raising yesterday. The best part: my employer has pledged to match it. Yay! :o)
I will leave you with some step-by-step pictures:
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| Can you see the specks of orange zest? |
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| I cut the cookies into 1/4" thick slices which I thought was too thin but trusting Flo, I did it anyway |
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| Mmmm... sprinkles :o) |
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| Place the dough inside a paper towel tube to keep the log round |
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| Sweet, orange-y, tender, melt-in-your-mouth! |
Final thoughts/tips:
- Hubby thought the cookies were WAY too small and a bit bland, even with the added orange zest. He gave them an 8 out of 10, and asked me to not make this recipe again :o(
- As for me, I have mixed feelings about this recipe. I liked the tenderness of the cookie, and the nice butter and orange flavor, and yet I wasn't wow-ed by it. I have to agree with my husband about the blandness, even with the added orange zest. I'm actually sad to say that I doubt I'll make this recipe again. Sorry Flo!
- The only possibility I see is making the chocolate dough by itself and adding some peppermint oil to it. That might be pretty good and not so bland.
- Please check out the "real" Zebra Cookies from other ABC-ers here. They did a GREAT job!
Congratulations with the fund-raiser! Bloggers are doing so many amazing things to raise money for Japan.
ReplyDeleteGreat job with the fund raiser!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that the cookies didn't turn out so well. I actually had planned to make them tomorrow but now I don't think I'll spend the ingredients on something all ABC-bakers had mixed feelings over.
Next time better!
@Beth: thank you. We had a great turnout at the fund raising.
ReplyDelete@BakingSoda: thanks! Yeah, I’m really looking forward to the Overnight Cinnamon Buns. The plan is to make them for mom on Mother’s Day :o)
If I ever get myself to the store and remember the powdered sugar, I'm making these! Do you have any suggestions how to increase the flavor? Orange extract, etc? I'd like to take them to my granddaughter's first birthday tea on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on such a successful fund raiser. Thank you for your efforts. Your cookies look delightful. My little tasters loved the "zebra" stripes.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your fundraiser...and what a generous employer you have! It's amazing how many food bloggers have put together similar bakesales with equally great results.
ReplyDeleteAnd your cookies look great even though they're missing the chocolate part. I like the sprinkles!
Wow, very impressed with your bake sale totals - that's wonderful :) And, orange cookies - yum! I'll have to try that (or lemon) some time since I really liked these easy to make cookies.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your fundraiser; that's great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my bread recipe. I have emailed the friend who gave me the recipe to double check. It's entirely possible that I made a mistake; but as I recall it was a sweet-ish loaf. (I recently made a cookie from my blog only to find my instrucitons referenced "sugars," but my ingredient list only included one.)
Congrats on your fund-raiser, that's great! Have a nice day!
ReplyDeleteWay to go on your fundraiser! The cookies look great, but chocolate makes everything better! :-)
ReplyDelete