Orange Drop Cookies

For Christmas this year, I received a copy of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. I was thrilled to unwrap it because it is a cookie bible of sorts. To be sure, it's obvious when you flip through it that it dates from the 1960s (1963 to be exact), but for that reason it contains a number of classic recipes for squares and drop cookies that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s (aka, my childhood).

The Cooky Book contains a wide variety of recipes, including those for the most popular cookies through the decades, beginning in 1890. It's interesting to see how tastes and circumstances have changed. It also includes large batch recipes for a church luncheon or similar event and helpful hints for how to package cookies for shipping. There are a few recipes that rely on Betty Crocker mixes that are no longer available, but that's a small segment of the book. 

I flipped through the book a few times and kept coming back to one of the first recipes -- orange drop cookies. A citrus lover, they sounded appealing particularly because they use orange zest and juice for flavour. I decided to try them. 

The recipe was relatively straightforward. But one element was confusing -- just how big were these cookies meant to be? The recipe said to drop the dough by teaspoons. Taken literally, that would be a very small cookie. I flipped through the cookbook again and found an illustration where teaspoons -- the kind you use to stir your tea -- were used. That suggested a cookie closer to a tablespoon or so. I decided to try portioning it with a small ice cream scoop (equivalent to two tablespoons). This resulted in the exact number of cookies outlined in the recipe. I had my answer.

The resulting cookies were cake-like. In fact, their texture reminded me of madeleines. Initially, I thought I would skip the orange icing, thinking it would be gilding the lily, but then decided to try it anyway. After all, who am I to question Betty Crocker? (Yes, I know she wasn't a real person.) For some I drizzled a zigzag over the top, for others I covered the entire surface. I quickly discovered that the icing took them over the top. A truly delicious bite!

Having made these, I can understand why drop cookies were recommended for shipping. They are sturdy cookies, for sure. But they also stay fresh for a surprisingly long time. After six days in an airtight container at room temperature, they were still just as good as the day they were made. The cake still moist, the icing still perfectly set. 

A solid start to my Cooky Book exploration. I can't wait to try the next one.