My recipe tester, Genene, sent me a text message describing these cookies as ‘bloody delicious’, and I couldn’t agree more. Buttery orange shortbread sandwiched together with a simple buttercream made with fresh passionfruit and orange zest. They’re delightfully short and the bright, zesty flavours make them completely irresistible. The secret to these cut-out cookies is using cold butter. It means you can skip any long chill times and you don’t have to worry about over-working the dough. I like to get my stand mixer out for this recipe as it whips cold butter without breaking a sweat.
Ingredients
- 175 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold, roughly chopped
- 150 g (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, cold
- 315 g (2 1/4 cups) plain flour or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- finely grated zest of 1 large orange
Passionfruit buttercream
- 115 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 190 g (1 1/2 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- 40 g passionfruit pulp (approximately 1–2 fresh passionfruits)
- 30 ml (2 tablespoons) full-fat milk, room temperature
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150C (300F) fan-forced. Line three large baking trays or cookie sheets with baking paper or parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter, caster sugar and vanilla.
3. Beat using an electric mixer on low speed until the butter softens. It’ll take a few minutes, but eventually it’ll come together.
4. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the butter and sugar are combined and smooth. There shouldn’t be any lumps of butter.
5. Add the cold egg. Beat briefly on low speed just to break up the egg yolk.
6. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Continue to beat on low speed until a soft, thick cookie dough forms. It may seem dry and crumbly at first, but just use your hands to bring the dough together.
7. Shape the cookie dough into a large round disc using your hands. Put a large sheet of baking paper or parchment paper on the bench and place the cookie dough disc on top. Put another sheet of baking paper on top of the cookie dough.
8. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin until it’s 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick. (If the dough seems a bit soft to cut out, put the flattened cookie dough in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up slightly.)
9. Use a 5 cm (2 inch) round cookie cutter to cut out the rounds and carefully transfer them to the prepared trays, leaving space between each cookie to spread.
10. You can re-roll the excess dough twice and cut out more cookies. Discard any leftover dough. I usually get around 38–40 cookies in total.
11. Bake the cookies for 16–18 minutes or until they are golden on the edges. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Make the passionfruit buttercream. Place the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
13. Add the icing sugar, orange zest, passionfruit pulp and 1 tablespoon of milk. Beat on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for another 1–2 minutes or until the buttercream is smooth, creamy and almost fluffy. (If the buttercream is too thick, add a little extra milk.)
14. To assemble the cookies, transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip, approximately 1 cm (. inch) in diameter. Alternatively, you can just use a teaspoon to dollop the buttercream onto each cookie.
15. Turn half of the cookies upside down, then pipe a small amount of buttercream onto the flat sides. Place the remaining cookies on top to make a sandwich.
NOTES
• If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, you can use a ziplock bag and snip off the corner.
• Store filled cookies in an airtight container in the fridge. See page 20 for more make-ahead and storage instructions.