Creamsicle Cookies

We're all about the summertime flavors right now, if you haven't noticed. Remember running around as a kid with a sticky popsicle mess dripping down your hand? Maybe you ran through the sprinkler afterwards to rinse off. Or maybe it wasn't a popsicle. Maybe you were lucky enough to have a box of ice cream filled orange popsicles (creamsicles!) in your freezer...

This recipe comes from Baked Perfection, a blog with a ton of great tags, which makes it easy to search by ingredient or flavor. Apparently they were originally called "Orangebursts", but we like the frozen treat inspired name better.

Creamsicle Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons orange zest (we put a tiny bit more in)

2 cups vanilla chips (we used white chocolate chips)

• Mix together butter and sugars (make sure to firmly pack the brown sugar) until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add this mixture to the butter and sugar bowl, mixing on low speed until just combined.
• Stir in orange zest and chips (vanilla, white chocolate - whatever you decide!).
• Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. They spread a little bit, so make sure to leave some room.
• Bake in preheated 375 F oven for 8 - 10 minutes, or until light golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven but let cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes (they'll continue to cook for a minute or two). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Check out the mini grater!

The orange will add a surprisingly strong flavor burst...

we did add a little extra.

Mixing things up...

If you can find vanilla chips, please let us know how they are!

We used plain white chocolate chips and the end result was still delicious.

Lisa hard at work.

Orange Chocolate Chip Shortbread

The flavor burst of one of those smashable throwable dropable chocolate oranges (you know the ones we mean?), packed into a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie. Mmhmm... that's what this is.

The recipe for these citrus twisted cookies comes from Better Homes and Gardens: The Ultimate Cookie Book (edited by Lois White, 2007).

The original recipe calls for raspberry chocolate chips, which would be quite the flavor combination. We didn't have any on hand, but we'll be sure to try that next time.

Orange and (Raspberry?) Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Makes 24 cookies.

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Orange glaze (recipe follows)

• In medium mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar and orange peel, until completely combined. Beat in flour until crumbly.
• Stir in chocolate chips, pressing the dough together until smooth. If the dough is just too crumbly to pat together, try putting it in the fridge for a few minutes.
• Pat dough into a rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick) on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 325 F. Bake until bottom is just beginning to brown and the centre of the cookie is set.
• Place cookie sheet on wire rack to cool.
• Spread glaze over cooled shortbread. Let the glaze stand for about 30 minutes, until set. Cut lengthwise, then crosswise, making 24 rectangles.

Chocolate chips and crumbly batter.

The consistency threw us off at first.

Add a tiny, tiny bit of milk if it's just too crumbly.

Press the dough together into a giant cookie!

Orange Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 tablespoon orange juice

• Stir together powdered sugar, butter, and orange juice.
• If necessary, stir in extra juice, one teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

Once the glaze sets, cut into rectangles.

Gouda, Apple, and Chicken Quesadillas with Orange-Almond Salad

Sandwiched between turkey dinners, we needed something a little different. The quesadilla recipe came from the lunch section of a cookbook, but it's hearty enough for a full dinner. Don't skip out on the gouda cheese! We didn't use smoked, but we made sure to get medium instead of mild to amp up the flavor.

We have to note that both recipes in this post came from a very special cookbook: Bravo! Best of Bridge Cookbook (Sally Vaughan-Johnston, 2009). Lisa and I won it in our grandparents' Christmas gift exchange, and we've been itching to try something out of it for ages. This weekend it was put to good use!

Smoked Gouda, Chicken, and Apple Quesadillas

Serves 4

4 flour tortillas (9-inches)

8 tablespoons peach or apricot jam

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 apple, thinly sliced

1/2 green onion, thinly sliced

1 cup chopped cooked chicken

1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese (we used medium, unsmoked)

Salt

Olive oil

• Lay tortilla on work surface. Spread jam over half the tortilla, sprinkling Mozzarella over the jam. Layer apple, onion, chicken, and Gouda on top. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over everything.
• Fold uncovered half over filling.
• Heat large skillet over medium-high heat and grease with a little bit of oil. Cook quesadilla, flattening lightly with a spatula, for 3 - 4 minutes on each side. Cheese should be melted and sides will be lightly browned.
• Transfer to a cutting board and cut in half. Serve warm.

Mozzarella

Gouda

Assembling a quesadilla.

Cheese, apple, and chicken - oh my!

Since the quesadillas have a bit of a summer flair to them (the weather was warm this weekend!), we thought a citrusy salad would be a perfect match. The salad recipe below is loosely based off of two we found: "Green Salad with Orange-Walnut Dressing" from the Bravo! book, and "Orange Almond Salad" from the Company's Coming: Salads (Jean Pare, 1985). Sidenote: The latter recipe's description reads "Men like this as well." Okay, great??

Orange-Almond Salad

Salad greens

4 tangerines (or 1/2 tin Mandarin oranges)

1/8 cup toasted sliced almonds

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons / a splash vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

Pinch dried tarragon

Salt

Pepper

• In tupperware container, add olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, honey, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Put lid on container and shake it!
• To toast almonds, spread in single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 5 minutes.
• Peel tangerines and separate pieces.
• Put greens in large salad bowl, add almonds and tangerines, pour desired amount of dressing, and toss.

Orange dressing - a little frothy.

Toast the almonds to bring out a nuttier flavor.

We used fresh tangerines, but you can also try

canned Mandarin oranges.

Toss it all together!