Orange - White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've baked a lot of batches of cookies during the last 6 years. I moved to New York to pursue a career in music. Needless to say, it is a difficult career choice. There is a lot of joy and lot of wonderful things to learn but there is also a lot of tears and rejection. After each audition I would walk to the nearest Sephora and buy a lipstick, but, believe it or not, it is possible to have too many lipsticks. Besides, there's no creativity in shopping! But baking...Oh, the possibilities! Baking provides me an activity to channel energy in a positive way and tame the crazy lady living inside my head. I share this passion with one of my best friends, well, more like a sister. When I moved to New York, she gave me "The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook" and the first recipe we made was Orange Vanilla Chip Cookies. It was wonderful and it quickly became one of our favorites. So aromatic and sweet! We fell in love with the cookie.

The following is an adapted version of the original recipe by Jennifer Appel and Alyssa Torey.

Orange - White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 + 2 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp grated orange zest
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 tsp good vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and the salt. I used to skip this step, using a fork to fluff the flour instead of sifting it, but it makes a world of a difference taking the extra time to do so.  

Cream the butter until fluffy and light in color. Add the sugars and beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Add the flour mixture in quarters and mix thoroughly. Stir in the orange zest and the white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Leave several inches between cookies as they will expand when they cook. I used a 1 1/2 teaspoon cookie scoop to form the cookies.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then move to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!