Christmas Cookie #7: Orange Sablé Cookies

The cookie countdown is beginning to wind down here at The Savory Notebook. I had hoped to get to several more, but I'm running out of time, so I think there may be only one more after this one. I felt like I was going to have plenty of time and felt I had gotten a pretty good head start, but there are always little details that I forget about that need attention. And it's not as if we don't have plenty of cookies already! Although some went to an exchange and a pan of brownies went to a band function, the rest of the cookies are in the freezer, waiting to be served to my family during their Christmas visit. With all of these cookies, I will not have to make desserts, that's for certain.

Orange Sablé Cookies

These are a small, shortbread-type cookie with a citrus zip and a bit of crunch from the almonds and sanding sugar. I used regular almonds that we already had on hand instead of buying blanched almonds. I wish I had roasted the almonds first - they don't really come through with this cookie as much as I would like.

I noticed on the Martha Stewart website that she uses this basic dough for a couple of different cookies: Orange Ginger Rounds which call for rolling the dough in crystallized ginger and Orange Poppy Seed Spirals in which poppyseeds are sprinkled over the dough before rolling and slicing. In her holiday cookbook, she also suggests rolling the dough in chopped nuts, cocoa or candied fruit as alternatives to the sanding sugar. Maybe next year I'll try the ginger variation, only with roasted almonds this time!