Gluten-Free Almond + Orange Tea Cookies

These fluffy, cakey cookies actually remind me of a lemon poppyseed olive oil cake I picked up recently at the La Grande Orange Grocery in Phoenix. I whipped them up on Sunday to serve with chamomile tea (for P) and a hot whiskey toddy with fresh squeezed orange juice (for me).

I came up with the recipe after reviewing five or six recipes for orange and almond cookies online. The batter was just a little too wet to form with my hands, but happily they baked beautifully as cookies and did not pancake at all. The cakey texture and mellow flavor makes them perfect for serving as a snack with tea anytime of the day.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cups almond meal

3/4 cup gluten-free baking mix 

2 eggs

Zest of 1 small orange

Juice of 1/2 small orange

2 teaspoons almond extract

Several drops orange extract or food-grade orange essential oil (optional)

Assembly 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a cookie sheet, or cover your cookie sheet with a Silpat baking sheet or parchment paper. 

Cream your sugar with olive oil and softened butter. Add almond meal, flour, and eggs. Mix well. Zest one small orange over your mixing bowl. Once you are done zesting, squeeze the juice of about 1/2 of the orange into the bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of almond extract. If you have it on hand, add several drops of food-grade orange essential oil or orange extract. 

Use a spoon to drop batter onto the baking sheet. The recipe will make a dozen cookies and you should be able to bake them in one batch; just make sure to leave about two inches between cookies. Bake for 15 minutes, and let cool completely before enjoying. 

If you prefer a sweeter treat, these would be great with a quick icing made of confectioners sugar and fresh-squeezed orange juice. If you don't have orange extract or essential oil on hand for the batter, you might consider making a quick reduction from the juice of a full orange to make sure the citrus flavor comes through. These would also be lovely with thinly sliced almonds baked in or pressed on top.

Finally, the batter is pretty forgiving so if you want to play around and add a bit more juice or almond flavor, or if you think it needs a bit more or less flour, go for it. The batter has the consistency perhaps of something between a traditional cake and traditional cookie batter, so don't worry if it seems a bit wet. 

Enjoy!

Food Allergies and Ethics: These are gluten-free. However, if you are not living in a gluten-free household you could easily use all-purpose flour in place of the gluten-free baking mix.