Low Calorie Orange Sugar Cookies
These orange sugar cookies are made with light butter, and orange juice concentrate. You can still eat cookies and not stall your weight loss efforts. These orange sugar cookies, although made with lighter ingredients, still taste indulgent!
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To make these delicious orange sugar cookies, you’ll want to start with light butter. I found some butter that had 45 calories per tablespoon, so I grabbed that for this recipe.
This recipe is similar to the low calorie lemon cookies I made earlier this year, and honestly, I’ve been loving making treats with light butter! I do not think there is much of a difference, at all!
How to make orange sugar cookies
To make these orange sugar cookies, I first creamed the butter with the sugar, orange juice concentrate, and vanilla. This took longer than normal, but if you start with softened butter, it should be pretty quick.
Then, I added the dry ingredients. I used sifted cake flour, because it’s so soft and silky! I also used baking soda to get a small rise out of the cookies. And, I used powdered milk!
The dough is pretty sticky when you first make it. You can add more flour if you need, but if you can get away with less flour, you’ll get super chewy cookies like I did. Also, you’ll get less calories!
After it’s all combined, chill your dough so it’s easier to handle. I chilled it overnight, but you can start making your cookies after a few hours, just until the dough is cold enough to handle.
If it’s still too sticky to handle, put it in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes and try again.
Otherwise, grab your 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, and grab a ball of dough. After you have the orange sugar cookie dough in a ball, roll it in a bowl of sugar, and place it on a cookie sheet, lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
Cook the orange sugar cookies at a low temperature of 325 for about 12-14 minutes. Even though they are small, the low temp lets you cook it a few minutes longer. I like mine a bit underdone, but even 10 minutes was still too doughy. 12-14 seemed perfect.
Low Calorie Orange Sugar Cookie
Ingredients
- 1/4 TBL Light Butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 TBL orange juice concentrate thawed
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup sifted cake flour
- 1/4 cup powdered milk
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tablespoon orange rind
Instructions
- Blend the butter, sugar, orange juice concentrate, and vanilla with a small hand mixer. Keep mixing until the butter is incorporated well.
- Add the dry ingredients. The cake flour, powdered milk, and baking soda.Continue to mix until a dough forms. Add small amounts of more flour if necessary.
- Chill the dough in a bowl for 2 hours or longer, so the dough is easier to roll.
- After the dough is chilled, roll into 1 tablespoon size balls.
- Roll the balls of dough in a bowl of extra sugar.
- Place on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
- Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes
Nutrition
That’s it! I’m excited to expand on the low calorie cookies and bring you more soon!
Follow me on pinterest for more low calorie recipes!
READ NEXT –> 8 DESSERTS UNDER 100 CALORIES!
Where do you get light butter? What brand?
Hi Kim. I like the country crock light butter in the tub. I get it at Walmart!
It was really dry after I let it sit. Like it needed more of some type of liquid. I’m not sure what I did wrong
did you use cake flour or regular flour? Also, orange juice concentrate, or orange juice?
So I squeezed the juice from an orange, and I did use monk fruit sweetener instead of regular sugar. That’s the only substitute. I also did use the cake flour. It tasted pretty good, but it was a little dry and it only made 13 small cookies. Not 24
I do think with how thick the orange juice concentrate is, it would change the texture significantly. I’d try that next time!
Is it really only a quarter of a Tablespoon butter? That seems like nothing. These look so good but I want to make sure I make them correctly. Thanks!
Yes! Not a typo. It’s just about a teaspoon, but enough to have a little flavor and holding power!
What is a substitute for powdered milk? I am lactose intolerant but I want to make this recipe.
Ah.. that’s a tough one Makenna- I think it really needs it for a creamier dough.
If I were to experiment, I would start with just leaving it out altogether, without a replacement. Maybe, increase another dry ingredient just by a tablespoon or two like the flour.
What is TBL?
Its’s for tablespoon!