Orange sugar cookies are soft, chewy, and have the slightest hint of citrus flavor! They make a great addition to any dessert board or cookie plate!
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Sugar Cookies with Orange Zest
I love a good citrus treat. Orange cranberry bread, lemon cupcakes, key lime cake – you get it. There’s just something about the bright citrus flavor combined with a classic recipe that really elevates it.
These orange sugar cookies are just that – a classic sugar cookie recipe tinted with orange flavor. They’re a great option to add something unique to your holiday cookie plates, something to serve up at winter parties, or just a quick treat to bake up for your own family!
We’ve made these for Christmas parties, bridal showers, baby showers, and just an after school treat for my boys. They love these just as much as our cut out sugar cookies!
Why You’ll Love These Orange Sugar Cookies
- Citrus flavor – there’s just a slight hint of citrus flavor in these sugar cookies, but it’s enough to make them stand out from other sugar cookies you might make.
- No chill dough – unlike many cookie recipes out there that use butter, you don’t need to chill this dough. That means they can be ready to eat in less than 20 minutes.
- Easy to make for a group – this recipe is written to make two dozen cookies, but you can easily double or triple it for more people!
Ingredients in orange cookie
Ingredient notes & Substitutions
- Grated orange peel – I typically use bottled grated orange peel — this is my favorite brand. If you can’t get grated orange peel, you can use fresh as well.
- Orange extract – I use this pure orange extract to give these even more of an orange flavor.
- Butter – unsalted, softened butter that will cream well with the other ingredients.
- Milk – I recommend whole milk in this recipe for its thickness.
How to make orange sugar cookies
These orange sugar cookies are so easy to make! It’s as easy as combining the ingredients together to make a dough, dipping in sugar, and baking!
1 – Make the orange sugar cookie dough
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream the sugar, butter, grated orange peel, and orange extract with a stand or hand mixer.
- Add the egg and mix then add the milk and mix until well combined.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the creamed mixture and mix until well combined.
2 – Roll and Bake the orange sugar cookies
- Mix sugar and orange zest together in a small bowl.
- Use a one tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out dough, then shape the dough into balls.
- Roll the balls in the orange sugar zest mixture until fully coated. Place them on the cookie sheet and flatten into a disk using the bottom of a cup.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 6-8 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack to let them to cool completely.
Once cooled, you enjoy them right away or drizzle with the orange glaze I use on these cranberry orange muffins, or just enjoy them without any toppings at all.
How to Store Orange Cookies
These orange sugar cookies are good for up to five days. Store them in an airtight container such as a storage container or zipper top bag.
You can either freeze the cookie dough balls before baking or freeze the cookies after baking.
If you freeze the cookie dough balls, roll them in the orange sugar and place the baking sheet of cookie dough balls into the freezer for a couple of hours to let them harden as balls. Place all the balls into a freezer safe zipper top bag to freeze them as individual cookie dough balls!
If you freeze the cookies, I always recommend wrapping them individually in plastic wrap then placing all the plastic wrapped cookies in a freezer safe zipper top bag.
Helpful Tips
Dip the cup in the extra orange sugar mixture before pressing it onto the cookie dough balls to keep it from getting sticky!
Switch up the flavor. Swap lemon zest and lemon extract for lemon cookies or you could even try grapefruit or a combo of a variety of citrus fruits!
Don’t over bake. You can these cookies to be soft and if you leave them in the oven too long, they’ll get crispy.
Recipe FAQs
Can you freeze orange sugar cookies?
These cookies freeze beautifully. Bake the cookies, place them in a freezer safe airtight zipper bag with as much air as possible removed, then store in the freezer for up to three months. Pull individual cookies out of the freezer and let thaw on the counter until they’ve come to room temp before eating.
Can I use fresh orange peel?
You can substitute 1/2 tsp fresh orange zest for the grated orange peel included in this recipe.
Orange Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- ⅔ cup butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp dried grated orange peel
- ½ tsp orange extract
- 1 egg
- 4 tsp milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Sugar Topping
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tsp fresh orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together sugar, butter, orange peel, and vanilla extract.2/3 cup butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp dried grated orange peel, 1/2 tsp orange extract
- Add egg and mix then add milk and mix well.1 egg, 4 tsp milk
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt to creamed mixture and mix well.2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt
- In a small bowl mix sugar and orange zest together.1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp fresh orange zest
- Shape dough into balls and roll ball in sugar orange zest mixture until fully coated.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet and flatten into a disk using bottom of a cup.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Info
More Fruity Desserts
If you like fruity desserts, try these ones. They’re a fun twist on the classics!
- Cherry cheesecake cookies – a sugar cookie topped with cherry cheesecake filling is one the entire family will love!
- Cherry cake – whether you want to call it cherry pie squares or cherry cake, this cherry dessert is bound to be a favorite!
- Easy peach cake – a delicious vanilla cake topped with an amazing cream cheese frosting and fresh peaches!
- Chocolate raspberry cake – layers of chocolate, homemade whipped cream, and fresh raspberries make this the ultimate dessert!
- Strawberry hand pies – these cute hand pies are filled with a fresh strawberry filling, perfect for the spring!
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