Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies

SPARKLING CANDY CORN COOKIES

These bite-sized treats resemble candy corn and have a hint of orange flavor.
Preparation time: 45 min (I didn't keep track but I don't think it was this long)
Baking time: 7 min
Yield: 15 dozen miniature cookies


1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Orange paste or gel food color
Yellow paste or gel food color
(I used liquid food color and added about 1T flour while mixing in the coloring)

1/2 cup sugar


Line bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Place another one-third of dough back into bowl. Add small amount of orange food color; mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan. Place remaining one-third of dough into another medium bowl. Add small amount of yellow food color; mix until color is well blended. Press yellow dough evenly over orange dough in pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl; set aside.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Invert loaf pan to remove dough.  Peel off waxed paper/plastic wrap.  Place layered dough onto cutting surface. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary (I didn't trim the edges...those were my samples!). 

Cut each slice into 6 wedges.

(oops I did 7 in this photo, but you get the idea)

Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned (only took 5 min for my oven, so CHECK). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Immediately place warm cookies in bowl with sugar; roll in sugar to coat.  Place cookies onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

I liked the look of the sparkling sugar, but it made the cookie a little too sweet for my taste.

Store in loosely covered container.


CHOCOLATE VARIATION:

Chocolate Candy Corn: Prepare dough as directed except stir 1 (1-ounce) square melted semi-sweet baking chocolate into one-third of white dough (I substituted 1oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips).  Tint one-third of dough orange and one-third yellow.  Place chocolate dough into prepared pan; layer with orange and yellow dough. Cut and bake as directed.

* recipe from here