Orange Snowdrops

Orange Snowdrops are a mid-century bakery cookie that uses frozen orange juice concentrate (not fresh orange juice) to deliver a concentrated citrus punch the fresh stuff can’t match. That reduction is what gives the cookies their intense orange flavor in every bite.

The butter-and-shortening combo is the key to the texture. Butter brings flavor; shortening keeps the cookies soft and tender for days without going flat. An all-butter cookie here would spread thin and crisp, which isn’t the point of a snowdrop.

Powdered sugar instead of granulated is another texture choice. It dissolves instantly into the fat, making the dough silky rather than gritty, and the finished cookie has a melt-in-your-mouth quality that granulated sugar would never deliver.

Pro Tips

• Use thawed frozen orange juice concentrate, undiluted. Fresh orange juice is too watery and changes the dough consistency.
• Don’t overmix once the flour goes in. Stir the last of the flour in with a wooden spoon; overworking develops gluten and toughens the cookies.
• Pull the cookies when the edges are just barely golden, not browned. They set up as they cool.
• Let them rest on the sheet for a full minute before moving. Straight-from-oven cookies crack and break apart.

Variations

• Swap orange juice concentrate for lemon or tangerine concentrate for a different citrus profile.
• Add 1 teaspoon of fresh orange zest for even more citrus perfume.
• Dip half of each cooled cookie in melted white chocolate instead of frosting for a cleaner finish.