Family recipes are special, and when they are tied to core memories, they’re even better. This recipe is from my mom’s Grandma Brewer who raised three boys in their farmhouse outside of town.
It was a treat when my mom baked these cookies when I was growing up. I don’t recall eating them too often, but enough to remember the citrus, orange-flavored frosting.
When I made (and ate!) this batch of cookies to photograph, the taste of the orange-flavored frosting transported me to remember light streaming through the windows of my childhood home where I was playing with a blue-and-white, toile-patterned tea set while my mom baked.
I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do.
COOKIE DOUGH
3-4 large carrots to make 1 cup mashed
3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp fresh orange zest
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
FROSTING
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 tbsp fresh orange zest
1 1/2 tbsp orange juice. If you want more of a glaze, add more orange juice and mix thoroughly until you get the consistency you like.
1/4 tsp orange extract (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Peel and slice carrots. Boil until tender, then cool and mash with a fork or food processor. An alternative is to microwave the carrots in a microwave-safe dish. Add about 1/4 cup of water to the carrots in the dish, cover, and cook in 3-minute intervals until they are soft enough to mash.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and either grease cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.
- Mix butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add eggs, orange zest, and mashed carrots. Beat until smooth.
- Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt just until flour is moistened.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until barely golden brown on the edges and set in the middle.
- Let cool 3-5 minutes on pan and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Beat frosting ingredients until smooth, adding enough orange juice as needed.
- After cookies are cool, spread with frosting.
MAKES 2 DOZEN COOKIES
Recipe and photo courtesy of Kylee Coleman.
