These melt-in-your-mouth, traditional Orange Cookies are pillowy soft and float away on your tongue. You’ll never guess the secret ingredient that gives them their beautiful hue and tender crumb!
Email Me the Recipe!
From time to time, we'll send you Well Plated emails. You can unsubscribe anytime. Have an account? Log In.
My Grandma Dorothy’s famous recipe.
Grandma Dorothy has made several appearances on my blog.
One Christmas, I shared these Candy Cane Snowball Cookies, which are based on her Swedish tea cakes.
Before she lost her battle with Parkinson’s disease, my grandma painstakingly recorded her most treasured recipes in a home-printed cookbook she called Lovin’ from the Oven.
Included in that cookbook is the recipe for these orange cookies—except my grandma’s original recipe is actually called “Carrot Cookies,” because the cookie dough contains mashed carrots. Don’t worry: these orange cookies do NOT taste like veggies.
- The carrots don’t flavor the cookies; rather, they make the cookie dough sweet and incredibly tender.
- These easy orange cookies truly melt in your mouth and that dreamy, too-perfect-to-be-true orange frosting takes them over the edge.
Every bite is sweet, citrusy, and reminds me of the love my grandma put into everything she made. I hope that your family adores them too.
5 Star Review
“These cookies have become a holiday classic for me. Delicious with a cup of tea or coffee, great for a gift or cookie exchange or just to munch on at home. I highly recommend them!”
— Anna —
My Tips for Perfect Cookies
- Let the Eggs Come to Room Temperature. Unless a recipe says otherwise, you should always set the eggs on the countertop so they warm up a bit before you start baking. They’ll mix more evenly into the other ingredients and hold more air that way.
- Use a Cookie Dough Scoop If You Have One. This ensures that every cookie is the same size and shape—and that they all finish baking at the same time.
- Be Patient. The cookies need to cool completely before you frost them. Otherwise, the frosting will simply melt right into the cookies and make them mushy.
How to Make Orange Cookies
Prep the Carrots. Cook, mash, and cool the carrots.
Mix the Wet Ingredients. Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs, orange zest, orange juice, vanilla, and mashed carrots.
Finish the Dough. In another bowl, stir the dry ingredients together. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Bake. Drop cookie dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes. Let cool.
Finish. Make the frosting, then frost the cookies. ENJOY!
Orange Cookies
email me the recipe!
From time to time, we’ll send you Well Plated emails. You can unsubscribe anytime. Have an account? Log In.
Ingredients
FOR THE ORANGE COOKIES:
- 1 cup mashed cooked carrots about 7 ounces uncooked—4 to 5 large carrots or 16 larger baby carrots
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- Zest of 2 large oranges
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE ORANGE FROSTING:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, then set aside. If needed, cook, mash, and cool the carrots: Peel and cut the carrots into large pieces (cut baby carrots in half), then place in a small saucepan. Cover with water, then bring to a boil over high. Let boil until the carrots are tender, about 6 minutes. Mash and let cool to room temperature (you can also place the carrots in the freezer to cool more quickly).
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Stir in the mashed carrots.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, then mix gently, just until the flour disappears.
- Drop by rounded teaspoons (the cookies are very small—do not make them larger or they will not bake as well) onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes, until the edges are barely golden. Let rest for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the frosting: In a mixing bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, butter, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Frost the cooled cookies, then enjoy!
Notes
- TO STORE: Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- TO FREEZE: Place cookies in an airtight freezer-safe storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months. If freezing the cookies, I recommend waiting to frost them if possible (or freezing the frosting separately), but iced orange cookies can also be frozen (they just aren’t as easy to stack).
- TO FREEZE COOKIE DOUGH: Drop cookie dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze until solid. Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight freezer-safe storage container or ziptop bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Bake cookies from frozen as desired (they may need a few extra minutes in the oven).
Nutrition
Join today and start saving your favorite recipes
Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes and access FREE meal plans.
Sign Me Up
Wonderful mixture with the orange and cranberries. I feel like it gives a nice natural sweetness instead of just using the sugar. Nice work (:
Thank you!
These cookies have become a holiday classic for me. Delicious with a cup of tea or coffee, great for a gift or cookie exchange or just to munch on at home. I highly recommend them!
Thanks, Anna! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the cookies! Thank you so much for the nice review!
These cookies look wonderful and I think that it is great that you are sharing your grandmother’s recipe! That makes it even more special!
Thank you, Denise! Family history sure does make a recipe feel more special! :)
Why do some of the ingredients have asterisks? I don’t see the notations for them at the bottom of the recipe.
I lov the recipes and stories you provide!
Sorry, I just found the explanations —
No worries, Judy! I’m glad you found what you were looking for. And thank you so much for your kind comment!
So disappointed!! My mouth was watering because they look delicious AND healthy? My let down began when I was reading, shortening, flour, wheat flour & sugar. Not for this Paleo chick. VERY unhealthy!!
Hi Cynthia, while many of my desserts are healthy, this is a special case where I was sharing a more decadent recipe that’s been in my family for years. If you’re looking for a healthy dessert, I have a whole section of them in my recipe index here: https://www.wellplated.com/category/recipes-by-diet/healthy-sweet-treats/
I had a lot of fun baking these with my 5 year old, he was amazed at how many cookies turned out since we had not made cookies as small before. I got a little tired but it was worth it. I loved the orange flavor and you’re right, they don’t taste like carrots at all. Thank you so much for including the weight of the raw carrots, it avoids the guessing work. Thanks Erin!
Hi Cristina! This makes me so happy! THANK YOU!
Very delicious. After they cooled and were stored overnight in airtight container were very moist almost wet? Is that how they are supposed to be?
Hi MaryAnn! I’m not sure what could have caused that other then them still being warm when stored. Glad you enjoyed them!
These little cookies turned out surprisingly well! I was a bit skeptical about the carrots, but they really do add a nice subtle sweetness and a lovely soft texture. The orange flavor is definitely the star, though, which is exactly what I was hoping for.
So glad you enjoyed them, Wendy! Thank you!
The aroma while they were baking was fantastic, that orange zest really comes through. They’re not overly sweet, which I appreciate, and the hint of carrot is interesting in a good way. They’re quite delicate, so letting them cool completely is the key.
So glad to hear, thank you Lucy!
Just made these orange cookies today, and they turned out really lovely. The carrot adds a subtle sweetness and moisture, while the orange zest gives it that bright, fresh flavor. I was a little skeptical at first about the combo, but it works so well! They’re soft and light—not too sweet, which I like. The frosting definitely ties everything together.
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Kelsey! Thank you!
I’m an amatuer baker, but I’ve had success with many of Erin’s recipes. However, these cookies failed. I tried to measure everything carefully, but they formed a big mass in the oven and tasted like shortening…
Oh no!! I am so sorry to hear this, Jessie. These are definitely not wide, flat cookies but it’s my grandma’s recipe and my family has made it for years. As far as flavor, you could try half butter and half shortening next time. Again, so sorry you experienced this, I really don’t know what happened here.
This recipe for Orange Cookies has 2 cups of all purpose flour as an ingredient, BUT in step #3 you have “stir together the all purpose flour, the whole wheat flour” Is this a typo?
Hi Bernice! Yes, that is a typo, we’ve fixed it. Thank you and ENJOY!
The instructions mention whole wheat flour, but I don’t see that in the ingredient list.
I assume in the photos you added dried cranberries, but also not listed?
Hi Kim, we just recently updated this recipe. We’ve fixed the instructions concerning the flour (it was removed from the recipe as were the cranberries, which is why you not longer see them in the photos either.) Hope this helps!