Many, many years ago my mother belonged to a monthly recipe club. I remember her having a large, avocado green recipe box and desert cards arriving monthly. This recipe is one of two remaining cards my mother has kept and one of our family favorites that is made year after year.
The cookies by themselves are a little plain but the frosting really makes them pop so I am very generous with the frosting. I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine does.
Carrot Cookies
1 cup shortening (I use half butter/half shortening)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed carrots
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cut shredded coconut
2 cups floor
Mix shortening, sugar, eggs and carrots. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt - stir in coconut. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2" apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 8 - 10 minutes. Batter is loose, not your typical cookie dough. Note: Use the coconut even if you don't typically like coconut. You don't really taste it and it will change the consistency of the cookie
Icing
3 tablespoons soft butter
1 1/2 cup powder suger
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 tablespoons OJ
Blend butter and sugar, stir in orange peel and OJ. Beat until smooth
As I stated I go pretty heavy on the frosting so I triple this recipe. I also use the juice from a real orange since I'm zesting the orange peel. Do not add vanilla to the frosting, it tints the frosting and detracts from the orange flavor.
Here's a couple of tips I've learned over the years.
- Keep the batter in the refrigerator while baking. If this batter gets warm the cookies tend to spread
- These cookies do not brown like typical cookies so just make sure they look fully cooked (i.e. don't look runny)
- Instead of cooking my carrots with water I cook them with some orange juice. This gives a little additional flavor to the cookie itself.
- Sprinkle a little bit of orange zest on the top of the cookies for additional visual appeal.
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those sound really fun!
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