Orange Jack-o'-lantern Cookie - Vegan

They may be shaped like pumpkins but these cookies taste nothing like them. What can I say? The season called for pumpkin shaped cookies and I provided... I just didn't feel the need to make them pumpkin flavor.  In fact, they have a delicate orange flavor thanks to fresh squeezed orange juice and zest and a chewy but firm texture somewhere between a cookie and a biscuit. Not your usual fall cookie.

I developed this recipe because I wanted to make a bunch of really cute icebox cookies that were Halloween themed but I always try to also provide a vegan version and I couldn't find a vegan recipe for the life of me. I went about figuring it out myself and I finally got my cookies to maintain their shape during baking!! I also spent so long getting to this point that I never got to those other cookies..... 

At some point in my search, I realized I didn't want standard sugar cookies so I adjusted my lemon cookie recipe and boom. These cookies can be baked thick or thin depending on what texture you prefer, thick cookies are chewy but still break with a quiet snap and the thin version is less chewy and has a better snap. If you use 2 teaspoons of orange powder instead of zest you may get a more concentrated orange flavor but I like like light and delicate citrus notes of this cookie.

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Orange Jack-o'-lantern Cookies

Makes at least 12 thick cookies or 18-24 thin cookies

ingredients:

• 1/3 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, divided
• 5 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice, divided
• 2 tablespoons orange zest 
• 2 tablespoons water
• orange, yellow, and red food dye
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the coconut oil so it is easily workable and there are no hard clumps.
2. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and incorporate it completely. This will take some time but it comes together eventually. I promise.
3. Mix in the 5 tablespoons of orange juice and 2 tablespoons of water 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Then add the orange zest and food dye.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (including the remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar) and sift them into the wet ingredients to prevent any clumps.
6. Mix until you have a soft dough, wrap in cling wrap, and rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
7. Once your dough has chilled, unwrap it and place it between two sheets of wax or parchment paper. 
8. Roll the dough to your desired thickness preferably using guides such as chopsticks for cookies that are 1/4 inch thick before baking. Be aware that the cookies do rise and thicker cookies rise more but also take much longer to bake.
9. Use a cookie cutter dusted with flour to punch out your shapes and place them on a baking sheet. Gather the leftover dough from the edges into a ball and roll it out again to cut out more cookies until you are out of dough.
10. Freeze your prepped cookies for 20 minutes before baking.
11. Bake @350ºF for 15-20 min (thick cookies) or 12-17 min (thin cookies). You will know your cookies are done when you gently tap one and it sounds hollow. 
12. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating. I used chocolate with a bit of coconut oil to make it easier to work with and some leftover crumble from this recipe for the stems. You can use matcha or green sprinkles if you are also making pumpkins.
13. Enjoy!!