Citrus Cookies

I keep saying I'm not crispy cookie fan, but here I am making them again.  Mike bought me Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook for Christmas last year, and it is easily one of my favourite cookbooks.  The meals are simple, fast, and nothing is too precise which I love since nothing about my cooking is precise.

During the summer I tried out Jamie's basic refrigerator cookie recipe with a good quality dark chocolate bar.  Like I said, they're crispier than I would normally enjoy, but these are simple and delicious, and perfect with a nice cup of coffee.

This week I decided to try the citrus variation, and they are simply delightful!  Very easy to make, and perfect for a little sweet treat in the afternoon (or morning, or evening, or anytime really).  I do prefer the chocolate variation, but these were very tasty and I will definitely make them again.  I don't know that I've ever baked anything with orange zest in it, but I quite liked it.

The only thing I changed in the recipe was to use white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose.  Oh, and I used regular sugar instead of superfine which worked fine in these cookies.  

Jamie Oliver's Cookies

Servings: Makes about 15 cookies

Ingredients

Basic Cookie Dough:

• 9 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1 large egg , preferably free-range or organic
• Scant 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup quick cook oatmeal (not instant)
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Citrus Cookies:

• 1 orange
• 1 lemon

Double Chocolate Cookies:

• 2 ounces white chocolate or 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

To make basic cookie dough: Take your butter out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before you start so it has time to soften a bit first. If you've got a food processor, simply put your soft butter into it with the rest of the basic ingredients and whiz until smooth. Or you can put it into a mixing bowl with the sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until you get a thick, creamy consistency. Crack your egg into another bowl and beat it with a fork, then add it to the butter and sugar and mix well. Sift your flour into the bowl to remove any lumps, add the oats, baking powder and salt and mix until lovely and smooth.

To flavor cookie dough: Either finely grate your orange and lemon zest or roughly chop your chocolate. Stir the zest or chocolate into the cookie dough and mix together well. Spoon on to a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a sausage shape with a roughly 2 1/2-inch diameter. Pop the dough into the freezer for 30 minutes.

To bake cookies: Preheat the oven to 375°. Get your chilled dough out of the freezer and cut it into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place these on two nonstick cookie sheets, making sure you leave a good bit of space between the slices because they'll spread while cooking. If you can't fit all your slices on the cookie sheets, just cook one batch after another. Place the cookie sheets in the middle of your preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool down slightly before transferring to a wire rack to let cool completely and crisp up. Delicious with a glass of cold milk.