I am so excited to share this shortbread cookie recipe with you today! These melt-in-your-mouth delicious cookies are beautiful, quick and easy. You seriously won’t believe how easy these are. And the flavor combination of orange and rose? Un. Real. You’ll have to try them to believe it, and then you’ll never go back!

Let’s talk special ingredients. In the cookies, I used orange blossom extract along with orange zest. The flavor of orange blossom extract is softer and more delicate than traditional orange. I really like how subtle the flavor is in the cookies, and how the orange zest brightens is up just a tetch. Honestly these cookies could totally be eaten alone (I’m your witness, I probably ate 5), but oh my gosh they are made even more outstanding by the glaze. Which brings me to the next special ingredient – rose water extract. This extract smells very perfumy, and you definitely have to toe the line between soap and delicious. But when you hit that balance, it’s total perfection.

Makes about 18-20 small cookies

Cookie Ingredients: 

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of one orange (keep the rest of the orange for the glaze)

Glaze Ingredients:

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon rose water extract

Directions: 

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and cornstarch, mixing until well combined. Add the flour, extracts and orange zest, and mix until just combined. It may look too dry, and like it won’t come together. Just keep mixing – it will!

Roll the dough into two logs, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until the dough is cold. Preheat the oven to 300, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange the cookies on the lined baking sheets, and bake about 30 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to color. Be sure not to overbake! Remove from the oven, and let cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

For the glaze: When the cookies are completely cooled, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. I like to use a fork to combine the powdered sugar with the orange juice. Dip each cookie into the glaze, and allow to dry on the cooling rack until the glaze is hardened. Garnish with dried rose buds (just make sure they’re food grade like these), and serve!

I am all about one bowl recipes, and you guys are too! They’re always my top performing recipes, and I’m not surprised! I love baking but I’m not a huge fan of kitchen clean up (just ask my husband, ha!). So I love making all of our lives easier and happier with one-bowl desserts.

Dense and Fudgy Brownies With Cream Cheese Frosting

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• Author: Kirsten Bell
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 12 Brownies 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking

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Description

Easy, dense and fudgy brownies for true chocolate lovers! Topped with cream cheese frosting for an extra delicious twist!

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Ingredients

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Brownie Ingredients:

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

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Instructions

Brownie Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f, and grease an 8×8 baking dish. Set aside.

Combine the coffee, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, mixing until just combined. Add the cocoa and salt, give it a quick stir, and then stir in the flour until no flour shows anymore. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly into the greased baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Cut into squares, or use a festive cookie cutter and snack on the scraps (waste not, right?).

Frosting Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add two cups of powdered sugar and vanilla, increasing speed to high for 2-3 minutes once all the sugar is incorporated. Add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too soft to hold a peak.

For the coloring, I used Americolor Deep Pink gel color in varying amounts for the different shades of pink.

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Notes

I always use gel colors instead of liquid food coloring, because you don’t need to worry about messing up frosting consistency. If you haven’t used gel before, I recommend putting the color onto a toothpick, not directly into the bowl. That’s because gel coloring is really strong, and I’ve messed up by adding wayyyy too much. It’s easy to do!

To achieve this festive Valentine’s Day look, I used three different Wilton decorating tips. The first tip which made the light pink, larger flowers was Tip No. 224. The star tip that made the brighter pink stars was Tip No. 18, and the cream circles was Tip No. 5. I have this decorating piping tip kit, which I love! It has all the basics and I love the storage case. Plus it’s way more cost effective to buy the kit rather than individual tips.

If you love chocolate as much as I do, check out the following recipes too!

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Raspberry Dark Chocolate Ganache

S’mores Cupcakes with Smoked Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake