Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies

Well, I actually made these cookies for Halloween, but we all know that candy corn plays a role in the Thanksgiving celebration, since corn was part of the first Thanksgiving meal:)  I just "happened" upon this recipe jumping around the internet and landing on the Land O' Lakes website.  The little gems were featured in a video tutorial.  I watched the entire thing, printed out the recipe, and Voila, here they are!

 Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (I used a lemon because I didn't have an orange.  I thought it worked out well using both citrus fruits to represent the yellow and orange sections of the candy corn.)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Orange paste or gel food color

Yellow paste or gel food color

1/2 cup sugar

 Directions:

Line bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Place another one-third of dough back into same bowl. Add small amount of orange food color; mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan. Place remaining one-third of dough into another medium bowl. Add small amount of yellow food color; mix until color is well blended. Press yellow dough evenly over orange dough in pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

 

Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl; set aside.

Heat oven to 375°F. Invert loaf pan to remove dough. Peel off waxed paper. Place layered dough onto cutting surface. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary. Cut each slice into 6 wedges. Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Immediately place warm cookies in bowl with sugar; roll in sugar to coat. Place cookies onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

Store in loosely covered container.

Though larger than the original candy corn, you can see that these cookies are bite size:)

 I portioned these into cellophane bags and tied them with a fun, matching ribbon. Very fun and delicious treat!
The recipe states that it yields 15 dozen cookies.  I ended up with a lot of cookies, but not 15 dozen. I think it was closer to 10-12 dozen.   ENJOY!

Thanksgiving Challenge:  I'm thankful for my relative good health.  At the moment I have a chest cold, so I appreciate what a blessing good health is!

This post is linked up with Tasty Tuesday  and Lovin" it Fridays.