I love citrus fruit and so does Miss Bubbles. I decided to make some orange marmalade this year for Miss Bubbles. This marmalade gave me a hard time setting, so I ended up with thick orange syrup with orange peels after I canned it the first time, so I emptied out all the jars and re-boiled the orange marmalade and added a package of powdered pectin. The second time around I had success. The orange marmalade was slightly less dense than store bought marmalade and very easy to spread on a piece of bread. For the recipe that I wrote up I decided to keep the powdered pectin in the recipe to help ensure an easier canning process next year.
I have been looking for some creative ways to use my large collection of jams and jellies that I made this year. I decided to try my hand at using the orange marmalade in a cookie. I made peppermint orange cookies to celebrate the holiday season. Peppermint is a very strong flavor, so I went light on the peppermint extract since I did not want the peppermint to overwhelm the orange flavor. In the end, I got a very sweet soft cookie with a nice balance between the orange and peppermint flavors. Both kids loved these cookies. They are not spectacular to look at, but they taste great, and they are very easy to make.
Ingredients for Orange Marmalade (makes about 3 half pints) inspired by many Ball recipes
2/3 cup thinly sliced orange peel
1 1/3 cups orange pulp
Sugar
1 box powdered pectin (optional)
Directions
1. Boil the orange peels in a pot of water for 30 minutes or until clear.
2. Drain the water from the peel.
3. Add the orange pulp and 1 quart of water to the saucepot.
4. Boil for 10 minutes.
5. Cover the pot and let it stand for 12-18 hours.
6. Boil the fruit mixture and measure the amount of orange mixture.
7. For every cup of orange mixture, add 1 cup of sugar.
8. Boil the sugar and fruit mixture. Stir constantly to dissolve the sugar.
9. Cook the orange mixture until the gelling point is reached. The gelling point can be determined when the orange marmalade covers the back of a spoon and drips off in large sheets. I had a very hard time getting the gelling point of this recipe. Even after I thought I reached the gelling point I still ended up with thick syrup and orange peels, so I added an extra box of pectin. Alternatively, you can use the quick method and add one box of pectin to the orange mixture and let it boil for 1 minute before placing the orange mixture in jars.
10. Fill sterile jars (I used half pint jars) leaving ¼ inch headspace.
11. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Peppermint Orange Cookies (makes about 3 dozen cookies) from my own kitchen
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
¼ tsp peppermint extract
½ pint of orange marmalade
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, and peppermint extract in a small bowl.
4. Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Stir well.
5. Add the orange marmalade to the cookie dough and mix well.
6. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
7. Drop 1 tbsp of cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet. Add more cookies until the cookie sheet is full. Allow enough room for the cookies to spread.
8. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until the edges start to turn a little golden brown.
9. Store the cooled cookies in an air tight container.
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