These Orange Crinkle Cookies are eggless, slightly crunchy outside, with a soft and melt-in-the-mouth interior. They are bursting with fresh orange flavor and are amazingly delicious!
These eggless Orange Crinkle Cookies are made with freshly squeezed orange juice. They are buttery, tender, full of citrus flavor, and scrumptious. These homemade cookies are like a bit of sunshine, coated with powdered sugar.
Easy and Delicious Orange Crinkle Cookies
These cookies have a combination of cakey and cookie textures. The double coating of granulated sugar and icing sugar provides a slight and pleasant crunch to the cookies. But as soon as you bite the cookie, it melts in your mouth with bursting flavors.
Orange crinkle cookies are excellent; I mean, not only do they taste, but they look vibrant and smell delicious. They are made with fresh orange juice and full of orange zest.
Making these cookies is beyond easy, and the dough comes together quickly. But the best part is that there is no need to chill the dough. Isn’t that great?
My family adores these cookies, and they are our all-time favorite. Whenever I bake them, they bring back memories of childhood when my father used to get my favorite orange-cream cookies. And these cookies taste the same even without any cream.
Using orange zest and extract, along with orange juice, will give these cookies an intense flavor. But, rolling the cookie balls into sugar gives them a nice, crinkly texture.
If we roll cookie balls into powdered sugar, sugar patches will be on the cookies. To avoid this, I have rolled cookies first into granulated sugar and then into icing sugar.
Why You Will Love These Cookies
- Orange Crinkle Cookies are fresh, vibrant, and flavorful.
- These cookies are buttery, delicious, and melt in the mouth.
- They are made with fresh orange juice and zest.
- The cookies are soft, flaky, and tender.
- The recipe is easy and quick, and there is no need to chill the dough.
Ingredients and Notes
- Flour: I have used unbleached all-purpose flour and recommend using the same. If you decide to use whole wheat flour, please note that the texture and taste of the cookies will be different.
- Baking Powder: It is essential for tender cookies. It also helps spread the cookies.
- Salt: It provides a great contrast to the sweetness of the cookies.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, which must be softened to room temperature. Creaming butter and sugar is very important for light and tender cookies.
- Sugar: Sugar provides sweetness to the cookies and adds structure.
- Orange Juice and Zest: I have used both to get the vibrant, fresh, and full citrus flavors in cookies.
- Orange Extract: Orange extract provides an intense orange flavor to the cookies. However, it is optional; skip it if you don’t have it.
- Vanilla: Vanilla flavor goes perfectly well with orange flavor.
- Orange Food Color: I like my orange cookies, which have a beautiful orange hue. But if you don’t want to use food color, leave it out.
- Sugar For Coating: I have rolled the cookie dough balls first into granulated sugar and then into icing sugar. Sugar provides a crinkly texture and a slight crunch. Coating with sugar is essential, and do not skip this step.
How To Make Orange Crinkle Cookies Step-by-Step
Making The Dough
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line the baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set it aside.
- For the coating, combine 3 tablespoon of granulated sugar and ⅓ cup of icing sugar in two separate bowls. Set them aside.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined.
- Place butter and sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer.
- Instead of a stand mixer, you can also use a hand-held electric mixer.
- Cream the butter and sugar using a paddle attachment, initially at low speed and then at medium to high speed, until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Now add orange juice, orange zest, vanilla extract, orange extract, and a few drops of orange color.
- Adding orange extract and food color is optional. However, if you do not add food color, the color of the cookies will be different.
- Mix until well combined. However, the mixture will be curdled due to orange juice, which is perfectly fine.
- To this wet mixture, add flour mixture and continue mixing very gently until everything is just combined. Then using a spatula or your hands, form a dough.
- However, do not overmix or knead the dough.
Baking Orange Crinkle Cookies
- Scoop the dough using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, roll it into a ball, and flatten it slightly.
- Roll the cookie ball into granulated sugar first and then roll into icing sugar and place it on the baking sheet.
- Continue with the rest of the dough and place the coated cookie balls on the baking sheet, keeping them at least an inch apart.
Tip: This cookie dough will be very soft and might be sticky. So if you find it very hard to make dough balls, keep the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, continue with the rest of the procedure.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes.
- Then, transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack, allowing them to cool completely.
How To Store Orange Crinkle Cookies
- These cookies are great as cookie jar cookies. They can stay at room temperature for two weeks, stored in an airtight container.
- Orange crinkle cookies also freeze well. Store them in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to a month.
Make-Ahead
- Refrigerate The Dough: You can make this cookie dough in advance. First, make the dough, cover it tightly, and place it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then, bring it to room temperature before rolling and baking.
- Freezing The Dough: Roll the cookie balls from the dough and fridge them tightly covered for up to 3 months. Then, coat them with sugar and bake them without thawing. However, allow a few minutes of extra baking time.
Helpful Tips
- Measurements: For the perfect cookies, make sure to measure the flour and other ingredients correctly. Use the kitchen scale for the best result. If using the cup method, fluff your flour with the spoon and then spoon it into a measuring cup. Then level it off with the knife.
- Butter: It should be softened to room temperature before beating it with sugar. Cold butter will prevent the cookies from spreading, and warm butter will make the cookies flat.
- Orange Juice and Zest: Use freshly squeezed orange juice for the best flavor. If you use a blender to make orange juice, make sure to remove the seeds. The seeds make the juice bitter, and bitter juice will ruin the taste of the cookies. Orange zest enhances the flavor of cookies. Do not skip it. Also, zest only the orange part and avoid the white part of the peel. The white part will bring bitterness to the cookies.
- Dough: The dough will be very soft, but it should not be sticky. But if your dough is sticky and it is hard to roll the cookie balls, refrigerate the dough for at least 15-30 minutes. After chilling the dough, roll it into balls, coat them with sugar and bake the cookies.
- Baking Time: I have baked the cookies for 12 minutes, and that makes the cookies slightly crispy at the edges with a soft interior. But for the crunchier cookies, bake them for 14-15 minutes.
More Orange Baked-Goods
Recipe Card
Orange Crinkle Cookies (Eggless)
These Orange Crinkle Cookies are eggless, slightly crunchy outside, with a soft and melt-in-the-mouth interior. They are bursting with fresh orange flavor and are amazingly delicious.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (114g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) fresh orange juice
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 1 teaspoon orange extract (optional)
- A few drops of orange food color (optional)
For Coating
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set it aside.
- Take 3 tablespoon of granulated sugar and ⅓ cup of icing sugar in two separate bowls for the coating. Set them aside.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined.
- Place butter and sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer.
- Instead of a stand mixer, you can also use a hand-held electric mixer.
- Cream the butter and sugar using a paddle attachment, initially at low speed and then at medium to high speed, until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Now add orange juice, orange zest, vanilla extract, orange extract, and a few drops of orange color.
- Mix until well combined. However, the mixture will be curdled due to orange juice, which is perfectly fine.
- To this wet mixture, add flour mixture slowly and continue mixing very gently until everything is just combined.
- Using a spatula or hands, bring the mixture together to form a soft dough. Do not overmix or knead the dough.
- Scoop the dough using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, roll into a ball and flatten it slightly.
- Roll the cookie ball into granulated sugar first and then roll into icing sugar and place it on the baking sheet.
- Continue with the rest of the dough and place the coated cookie balls on the baking sheet, keeping them at least an inch apart.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes. Then transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
Storing Suggestions
- These cookies are great as cookie jar cookies. They can stay at room temperature for two weeks, stored in an airtight container.
- Orange crinkle cookies also freeze well. Store them in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to a month.
Make-Ahead
- Refrigerate The Dough: You can make this cookie dough in advance. First, make the dough, cover it tightly and place it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then bring it to room temperature before rolling and baking.
- Freezing The Dough: Roll the cookie balls from the dough and fridge them tightly covered for up to 3 months. Then coat them with sugar and bake them without thawing. However, allow a few minutes of extra baking time.
Notes
- Measurements: For the perfect cookies, make sure to measure the flour and other ingredients correctly. Use the kitchen scale for the best result. If using the cup method, fluff your flour with the spoon and then spoon it into a measuring cup. Then level it off with the knife.
- Butter: It should be softened to room temperature before beating it with sugar. Cold butter will prevent the cookies from spreading, and warm butter will make the cookies flat.
- Orange Juice and Zest: Use the freshly squeezed orange juice for the best flavor. If you use a blender to make orange juice, make sure to remove the seeds. The seeds make the juice bitter, and bitter juice will ruin the taste of the cookies. Orange zest enhances the flavor of cookies. Do not skip it. Also, zest only the orange part and avoid the white part of the peel.
- Dough: The dough will be very soft, but it should not be sticky. But if your dough is sticky and hard to roll the cookie balls, refrigerate the dough for at least 15-30 minutes. Roll it into balls after chilling the dough, coat it with sugar, and bake the cookies.
- Baking Time: I have baked the cookies for 12 minutes, making the cookies slightly crispy at the edges with a soft interior. But for the crunchier cookies, bake them for 14-15 minutes.
Nutrition (Approximate Values)
Calories : 134kcalCarbohydrates : 22gProtein : 1gFat : 5gSaturated Fat : 3gPolyunsaturated Fat : 1gMonounsaturated Fat : 1gTrans Fat : 1gCholesterol : 12mgSodium : 102mgPotassium : 23mgFiber : 1gSugar : 12gVitamin A : 150IUVitamin C : 2mgCalcium : 28mgIron : 1mg
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Ash says
Want to try. Thanks soo much. looking for eggless recipes.
:):):)
Jigna says
Hope you will try soon.?
Deepti kothari says
Hi iam deepti from ahmedabad, India
I like all your recipe but my question is if i dont have fresh orange juice and orange zest so can i use orange essence? Plz reply me soon.
Jigna says
Hi Deepti, these cookies are all about bursting orange flavour. So adding orange juice enhances the flavour. But you can still make it without orange juice. Use 2-4 tbsp of milk or water instead of orange juice. First add 2tbsp of milk or water and if dough does not come together then add more milk or water, one tbsp at a time. But make sure to use orange extract or essence for some orange flavour. Also if you have store bought orange juice, you can use that too.
Hope this will help and please update how did it turn out after you make it. Thanks Deepti for visiting and liking my recipes.?❤
Anonymous says
Can use wheat flour instead of palin flour(maida)
?
Jigna says
Hi, yes, you can use whole wheat flour instead of plain flour. But you might need to add 2-3 tbsp of milk to make the dough soft otherwise, cookies will be dense. And also expect a little different outcome than the original recipe. If you are making it with whole wheat flour, please share your experience. Thank you so much for visiting.?
Aarti says
Hey Jigna,
This recipe is outstanding. It tastes heavenly. I loved how moist and flavourful they are. Thank you. 🙂
Jigna says
Hi Aarti, thank you so much! I am glad that you like the cookies.😊
Nidhi Dave says
I used wheat flour and 1/3 of the plain flour everything else I did as per the recipe I also added 3 tbsp of milk as written in one of the comments, if we use wheat flour. But unfortunately the biscuits did not turn out so nice in taste they were bitter in taste. When to take a bite they taste amazing but as you chew them and take it down your throat they leave a very bitter taste in your mouth. One more thing I noticed is they were quite soft and not crunchy.
Jigna says
Hi Nidhi, I am sorry that this recipe did not work for you.
The reason for bitter cookies can be bitter orange juice. Or, if you use orange zest with white part, cookies can become bitter. Cookies may also taste different because of whole wheat flour.
These cookies are supposed to be soft and moist, but you may need to bake them for a few minutes more for crunchy cookies.
Zoe says
Hi, can I use gluten free flour for these? (The store bought gf flour I want to use is a blend of rice flour, maize and tapioca starch as well as thickeners)
Jigna says
Hi, check the back of the bag, and if it mentions substituting one cup of all-purpose flour with one cup of GF flour, then you are okay to use the GF flour for this recipe. However, I suggest half the recipe and try to make sure.
Melanie Ham says
Can these be made with non-dairy butter substitute, like stick margarine?
Jigna says
Hi, I have not tried making these cookies with non-dairy butter, so I can not say anything with guarantee.
But, if you have tried other cookie recipes with stick margarine successfully, you can half this recipe and bake the cookies for the trial.