Creamsicles in cookie form are delightfully nostalgic
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, especially in food. It makes me want to eat what I ate growing up, and it even makes me want to eat things that merely remind me of growing up.
This might explain why I was drawn to these Creamy Orange Cookies, which cookbook author Megan Porta said were inspired by Creamsicles. I could practically feel the summer sun beating down on me at my childhood pool when I saw the recipe.
I have to say I was skeptical before I baked them, but these soft and chewy cookies are a pretty fine ringer for the essence of the frozen treat. Except, of course, the flavors are brighter, cleaner and, yeah, a bit more adult.
A piece of advice: Do not disregard the recommended 2 inches of space between mounds of dough. The cookies do spread a lot (the degree can vary in the same batch or even on the same baking sheet), so unless you enjoy cookies that run into each other, be sure you allow enough room. That means baking multiple batches. If you have to re-use baking sheets, be sure to let them cool completely, which takes 10 to 12 minutes. I'd also suggest using a fresh piece of parchment paper for each batch, as reusing greasy parchment can cause additional cookie spread. (I prefer parchment to a silicone liner these days when I bake cookies, because the latter seems to also result in flat cookies.)
Like many recipes for cookies, and baked goods in general, this one originally called for the dry ingredients to be whisked in a separate bowl and then gradually added to the bowl where you have already mixed together the butter, sugar and a few other wet ingredients. But I'm on a one-bowl kick.
The first time I made these cookies, I sifted the dry ingredients onto a sheet of parchment and then folded the paper to funnel them into the mixing bowl in a couple of additions. I lost a little bit, it was kind of messy but hey, no bowl! The second time I was feeling particularly rebellious and dumped all the dry ingredients in at once as I measured each into the mixing bowl. It worked fine. The cookies were great. Just make sure you start the mixer on low speed right after you add the dry ingredients so the dry ingredients don't go flying out.
And that is how a single bowl can be a time machine. All that's missing is the wooden stick.