Orange Cardamom Cookies

Saturday night! Date night! Sa-tur-day night! (No plans, huh? Not-a-one!)

Scratch that. I do have plans. I have a date with Adam Scott, and we’re going to Party Down.

In going through Netflix’s streaming collection the other day, I came up on Party Down, a show that has been recommended to me several times before. Little did I know, it stars Adam Scott, who is also on Parks & Rec, and who I might have developed a new celeb crush on. If I had been told he was in this, I would have watched this show WAY sooner.

To top off my night of TV watching, I decided to take a legit pass at a cookie recipe that I made last Thursday. Because I was too impatient/lazy, I didn’t give these cookies the care they deserved during that first round. They were delicious anyway, and I figured they would be fantastic if I actually put effort into making them. Well, they are, and they are perfect with my Sleepytime Vanilla Tea.

Tea + cookies + good TV = quiet Saturday night FTW.

Orange Cardamom Cookies

Makes 2 dozen, adapted from Epicurious

1 ½ sticks of butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 tbsp orange zest

¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 egg white, room temperature

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¾ tsp cardamom

¼ tsp salt

raw sugar

1. Put on some tunes, maybe The White Stripes’ De Stijl? (Party Down requires full attention, start that later.)

2. Beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, about two minutes. Add sugar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about two more minutes. Beat in orange zest and vanilla until just blended. Beat in egg white until just blended.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cardamom, and salt. Add to butter mixture in three additions, mixing on low speed until just blended after each addition. Refrigerate dough for an hour or more, and don’t be like me last Thursday and keep dipping into the dough while you wait.

4. Once dough is firm, shape into 1-inch balls and roll in raw sugar. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven at 350° for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and cool completely on racks.

5. Make some tea, put a few cookies on a plate, and get ready to party.