Cointreau White Chocolate Cookies

I have a special kind of affection of working with citrus fruits in desserts. Normally I dislike when I smell of food after I’ve cooked, but I looove having the scent of citrus fruits on my hands. I try not to wash them for as long as I can, but that doesn’t last very long with me. So with the smell of sweet oranges lingering through the kitchen, I baked these cookies. I thought they were a bit too sweet; it might have been the amount of sugar or the white chocolate chips. Rating: 3 out of 5.






Cointreau White Chocolate Cookies: adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook - Allysa Torey & Jennifer Appel

Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ½ tablespoon grated orange zest
- 1 tablespoon orange liqueur (Cointreau, Triple Sec, Grand Marnier)
- 1 cup vanilla or white chocolate chips

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, the baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter with sugars until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the orange zest and the vanilla chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.


Cointreau (orange-flavored liqueur) is one of my favorite alcoholic drinks.
I thought it would be a nice addition in these cookies.
Any excuse to consume more of it, right? ;)