Orange Sherbet with Sugar Cookie Spoons


You know that refreshing, tart-sweet flavor of store bought orange sherbet?

Mmmmm...sherbet.

Make it yourself and you get refreshing and tart-sweet times ten plus an incredibly fresh flavor.

I found the little cookie spoons in Martha Stewart Living. They are so cute. The kids will love them (as will the adults). Make a few per person. You will probably break one or two.

After all, you'll be eating this sherbet with gusto.

Sally's Orange Sherbet

6 cups FRESH SQUEEZED* orange juice, strained (I bought a box of oranges from Costco and used about 3/4 of the box...sorry, I should have counted the oranges)
1 1/2 cups FRESH SQUEEZED* lemon juice, strained
4 to 4 1/2 cups sugar (depending on the sweetness of your oranges)
3 cups whipping cream
6 cups whole milk

Mix all together and freeze in a six quart ice cream freezer. (I have a four quart maker, so I split it into two batches.)

*Some of you may be asking "Can I use store bought orange juice if it's 'not from concentrate'?"

Sorry. No.

All I have is a little hand held juicer, but I juiced and I juiced (and I juiced). It probably took me thirty minutes or so. But believe me, the sacrifice is well worth it.

Sugar Cookie Spoons
adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Makes about 30 cookies
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 T cream or milk (my addition...see below)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until dough comes together. (I made two batches. The first batch I made as written and my dough was quite dry and crumbly and rather difficult to work with. The second batch, I added a tablespoon of cream and it made a world of difference. The dough was soft and rolled out beautifully. You can play it by ear. The taste and texture of both batches was the same.) Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out 1 disk of dough to just less than an inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using a paring knife, cut out spoon shapes, each about 3 inches long. (I looked around for a spoon shaped cookie cutter, but couldn't find one. Go to your baking supply store and see what they have. A tennis racket would work perfectly. I found a guitar shaped cutter and manipulated it into a spoon shape.)
Transfer to baking sheets. Roll out scraps, and repeat once. (I took a cookie baking class from an expert cookie baker once and she gave the same advice. Roll your dough out more than twice and your cookies will be tough.)
Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, about 12 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

10 comments:

Erin Gilbert said...

One of my new favorite summer desserts!

Ann Marie said...

mmmmm! i'm going to try this one FOR SURE! those fresh oranges are amazing!

(by the way, great lesson on sunday...absolutely lovely conversation afterwards too!)

Jacqui said...

Could the picture be any more lovely? When I'm off of WW, I've got to try this. :)

I suggested on Seth's blog that he make the HTML code available for the little "Megan's Recipes" tag.
I'd put it on my blog in an instant!

Morgan@LittleHouseofVeggies said...

This looks so good Megan! I am excited to try this!

Megan said...

ERIN, I'm glad you liked it. It was for your birthday after all.

ANN MARIE, Are you in a part of California where you can get oranges at the farmers market? I'm jealous if you can.

I also enjoyed our conversation. I'd love to meet your nephew!

JACQUI, Seth is working on a html whatever...and you don't need WW.

MORGAN, What are you doing up and reading? You should be napping when the baby naps...oh ya, doesn't work when you have two other little ones to chase after huh!

Lisa Marie Trent said...

Is an ice cream maker a good investment? THIS post sure makes it seem so.

Megan-I imagine we've crossed paths at some point...somewhere. I went to school with one of those many Bradley's. So consider us friends.

Every time I'm in the mood for a cookie I come here. Snickerdoodles this time, I think... yes.

Valerie said...

Those cookie spoons are so cute! I just had orange sherbet tonight, but I bet this is so much better.

Megan said...

Lisa Marie,
I definitely think an ice cream maker is a good investment.

Homemade ice cream has a superior taste to store bought, and you know exactly what is in it.

Plus, there is just something about the sound of an ice cream maker whirring on the back porch. Maybe it's the anticipation.

I have the Aroma 4 quart Tradition Ice Cream Maker from Target. About $60.00.

LooHoo said...

I am stranger to you, but am looking for a good cookie spoon recipe and Google directed me to you. How sturdy are the spoons this recipe makes? Are they pretty dense/ tough?

Thank you!
Laura Poythress

Megan said...

Laura,
The spoons are pretty sturdy considering they are a cookie. We definitely broke a few while eating the sherbet, but they were worth it. I made three per person to account for the breakage. (They were so tasty and fun, no one complained when they had to eat their spoon and reach for another to scoop up their sherbet).