Orange Marmalade Cookies

 A few weeks ago, I was in the mood to do some canning, so I decided to make a few jars of my Sweet Orange Marmalade. Out of all the jams and jellies I've made, this is definitely in my top 5 because it's has such a HUGE punch of fresh orange flavor without the bitterness that you might find in other marmalades. Anyway, I shared it with a few friends (just because that's how I roll), and I quickly got a text from my friend Alana that said "Sweet Orange Marmalade, for the win!" LOL I'm telling you, it's REALLY that good!
 Cut to the night before Thanksgiving when I was making my Candied Sweet Potatoes, and I figured OK! Time to make another batch of marmalade! I'll use some in the sweet potatoes and I'll drop some off to Alana. Perfect! (My niece, Terri was also an immediate fan, so I saved some for her too!)
 But then I still had a few jars left, so I decided to see what else I could make with it. 'Tis the season for baking cookies, so I figured, why not? It didn't take me very long to find this recipe on Food.com and I loved them from the very first bite. They're a nice refreshing change from your usual vanilla cookie, and they're just as buttery and crispy and chewy as you want them to be.
 So there you have it. They're perfect for holiday entertaining, gift giving, and you should DEFINITELY bring them to your next cookie swap. Better make a few extra batches!


1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
6 tablespoons orange marmalade (any brand, or home made)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


 Preheat oven to 375°F
Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and orange marmalade and mix until thoroughly combined. Add additional marmalade if the batter is too stiff.
In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. With the mixer running, slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture until blended.
Drop by spoonfuls on the cookie sheet; do not crowd the cookies as the batter will spread during baking. Bake until the cookies spread out and are lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Cool a minute or two on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Tips:
Whenever I bake cookies, I ALWAYS chill the dough for at least 30 minutes, and I always use parchment. It's just makes everything so much easier. Just sayin!
I wanted to add a little more orange flavor so I added a few tiny drops of pure orange extract. You can also add a bit of grated orange zest.
To make perfectly round cookies, roll your measured tablespoonfuls of chilled dough into balls and then place them onto your baking sheet and bake as directed.
This recipe makes a very small batch. I imagine you can probably double it!
I suppose you could try this recipe with other flavors of jam or marmalade. Hmm.. I bet lemon would be delicious!! I'll let you know if I ever give it a try!