Sugarcoated Melt-Aways
Most cookies with “melt away” in the name are very similar to the Butter Balls recipe I posted mid last week – a tender, buttery, nutty, shortbread-esque cookie coated in powdered sugar. This recipe for sugarcoated melt-aways (a.k.a. sugar crusted melt-aways) is in the same vein – it does have that same tender, buttery, nutty, shortbread-esque base, but it brings some unique elements to the table. There is additional flavor complexity and richness from a hint of orange and chocolate and the recipe introduces a new textural element by coating the cookie in a shell of granulated sugar in place of the powdered sugar.
From what I could find, this recipe made its public debut in 1984 as an entry in the 31st Pillsbury Bake Off contest (appearing on page 70 of the paperback cookbook featuring the 100 prize winning recipes from that contest). I want to say that mom discovered and started making this recipe in the 1990’s. I found a number of food blogs with either this exact recipe or slight variations, but all of those were a little more recent, mostly from the 2010’s and I think I was in middle school the first time mom made it. It is strange, I distinctly remember newer recipes being added to mom’s Christmas cookie trays over the years, but I don’t ever remember her making the recipes before they were featured for the holidays. I know she must have tested them first, but I guess they just didn’t make an impression until they became “Christmas Cookies”.
I recreated this recipe at dad’s request, one of a couple of favorites he asked me to make. I actually hadn’t really thought about these particular cookies in a while, but when he sent over the recipe it stirred up all kinds of memories. The most immediate was the first time I remember helping mom make them for the Christmas trays. I had happily eaten them for at least a few years before I ever helped to make them, but finding out how they were made almost turned me off to them. It was the orange juice that threw me – the idea of mixing orange with chocolate was the first turn off (I still don’t like fruit with chocolate and orange is no exception) and the second was dipping the baked cookies into the unadulterated orange juice, that just seemed like such strange and foreign thing to do, why would you dip baked cookies into a thin watery liquid like that?? Luckily, the memory of how much I enjoyed eating them was stronger than any misgivings I had about the ingredients or preparation methods and I continued to enjoy mom’s sugarcoated melt-aways for many more years.
If you’re like me and prefer not to mix fruit and chocolate, let me reassure you. The orange is just the barest hint of citrusy acidity that helps cut through the sweetness just a bit. If you’d rather have a stronger orange presence, you can add a bit of orange zest (about 1 tbsp total) to the juice and/or to the cookie dough. As for dipping the baked cookies in a watery liquid – well, the cookies never have a chance to absorb much of it, the hydroscopic nature of the sugar ensures that the orange juice is almost entirely pulled away from the cookie to form the crisp sugary shell. There is just enough absorbed by the very outer layer of the cookie to ensure the shell adheres to the cookie.
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or silpats (optional, but makes cleanup easier)
- Pour the orange juice into a shallow dish, set aside for dipping the cookies later.1/2 cup (120 ml) orange juice
- Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.1 3/4 cups (228 g) flour, 1/8 teaspoon (0.12 tsp) salt
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in water and vanilla until well combined.3/4 cup (168 g) butter, 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cold water, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, be careful not to overmix.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts, just until evenly distributed.1 cup (240 g) miniature chocolate chips, 1 cup (240 g) finely chopped walnuts
- Roll the dough into 1" balls (a #100 cookie scoop works well for portioning the dough), placing them about 1" apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake at for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove to wire racks to cool.
- Pour the additional sugar into a shallow dish. Dip each cookie first in the orange juice, then roll it in additional sugar and place it back on the wire rack to dry completely. Continue until all the cookies are coated.additional sugar
- Store the cookies in an air-tight container.
Notes
Private Notes
Nutrition
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