Blood Orange Crinkle Cookies

My friend Jean the lovely mastermind behind the scrumptious Lemons and Anchovies kept teasing me on Instagram with her Lemon Cookies she was cranking out.  Not fair I tell you when you are sitting down with your cup of tea and not a lemon in sight to make such glorious treats.

Lucky for me I had a couple of blood oranges sitting on the counter waiting for something good to happen to them.

A few tweaks here and there and my tea was no longer lonely.

Ingredients:
1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup powdered sugar
1¼ cups (8¾ ounces) granulated sugar
4 teaspoons grated blood orange zest

4 tablespoons blood orange juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, and cooled
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk 

1-2 drops red food coloring (optional, but the cookies will be much paler in color without it)

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350° F and line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl and set aside. 

Process granulated sugar and orange zest in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter, oil, orange juice, egg and yolk, and red food coloring and process until pale and thickened, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with flour mixture and stir until incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill until dough is firm, about 1 hour.  Although I've found with this type of dough overnight chilling works best and then it is much easier and cleaner on the hands to roll.  

Roll a piece of dough about 1½ tablespoons into size into balls, toss in powdered sugar, and space them 2-inches apart on prepared sheets. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the cookies are cracked and set on top but still look moist within the cracks, about 10 to 12 minutes. Be sure to rotate the sheet halfway through baking.

Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24-27 cookies.

Hot Dog Dude is usually my first line of taste testers and I busted out laughing when he told me, "These taste exactly like Fruity Pebbles!"  I haven't had that cereal since I was a kid, so I can't exactly confirm that.  Then again, I won't buy kids cereal for a grown man, so I think this means I am no longer the wretched wife who won't buy her husband children's cereal.  Either way I think I win here.

Either way you try these, in the lemon or blood orange I think you will be a winner too.

Enjoy,

Gina