Soft Ginger Cookies with Orange Glaze
Belsnickle cookies are spiced soft ginger cookies with orange glaze. Buttermilk adds the soft cake-like texturen to the cookies. These soft delicious cookies are perfect for Holidays.
Equipment
Ingredients
For ginger cookies
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup dark molasses
- 2 eggs
- 3-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
For orange glaze
- 2 cup powdered sugar plus 1 tbsp
- 1 tbsp butter softened
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2 tsp grated orange zest
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
To make ginger cookies
- In a small bowl combine buttermilk and baking soda and set aside. They will foam up.
- In a larger bowl combine oil, sugar,molasses and eggs and beat until well mixed (about 1 minute). Add the buttermilk mixture and blend. Sift together dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Let mixture stand 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Drop batter by heaping tablespoon onto the oiled cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes until the top springs back when touched with your finger. Do not over-bake. The cookies should be quite soft.
To make the orange glaze
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix the powdered sugar, butter, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla extract and salt until smooth but thick.
- Remove cookies to wax paper lined wire rack. While cookies are still warm, ice them with 1/2 tsp of glaze for each cookie. Let cool completely. Transfer to trays and place in freezer to completely set. Once frozen, pack them in a tin in single layer seperated by wax paper. These cookies freeze well.
Notes
This recipe is adapted from Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams.