Mandarin and Marmalade Cookies

Ever want something sweet just from ingredients in your pantry? Um, all the time.

I actually have a pretty extensive pantry, well-stocked for most occasions. However, this week, the cupboards were a little bare since I hadn't renewed our Costco card yet.

I dug through the shelves to find something that I could put together, and I also came across this recipe from the Mrs. Fields Cookie Book. The 1990s cookie-superstar-mall-food-court Mrs. Fields was founded in 1977 in California, but is now headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Not that it makes much difference to me. Except that it wasn't much of a surprise when I came across the cook book in a thrift store here, complete with autograph and personal note from Mrs. Fields herself to someone else in the front cover. (Apparently, they didn't care to hold on to this gem).

In the pantry, I rustled up some orange marmalade I canned last summer, as well as cans of mandarin oranges. Well, so becomes an excellent recipe adapted from the Mrs. Fields book, and updated to make it a little less sweet and a bit more focused on the orange-y goodness. (Not to mention, made gluten and dairy free).

The low oven temperature gives these cookies a seriously soft texture, almost like a Lofthouse cookie if you were eating gluten. They are studded with the bits of mandarin orange, and there's a zing inside from the orange marmalade. They don't need any frosting, and they are plenty sweet. The coconut oil gives a great, almost-buttery flavor, without any strange fake-fat aftertaste. The combination of flours gives a nice crumb (thanks to the sorghum), but enough structure to carry well in a lunch bag (thanks tapioca!)

Last Year: Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
Two Years Ago: Wordless Wednesday (Smores!)
Three Years Ago: Tuile Cups with Blueberries

Mandarin and Marmalade Cookies
adapted from Mrs. Fields Cookie Book
[Printer Friendly]

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup millet flour
3/4 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup coconut oil (substitute: butter, ghee, organic shortening)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup orange marmalade
one 10 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained and chopped


Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium bowl, combine sorghum flour, millet flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum and baking powder.* Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, or another large bowl to be mixed by hand, blend coconut oil and sugar to form a grainy paste. Add egg and orange marmalade, and beat at medium speed until smooth. Alternately, mix by hand until the mixture is smooth. Add the flour mixture and the oranges, and blend at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart. A baking sheet with a silicon mat would work well here.

Bake 24-25 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies begin to brown. Transfer with a spatula to a cool, flat surface. These cookies keep well at room temperature for about a week.

*The combination of flours could be substituted with 2 3/4 cups of your favorite gluten free all-purpose flour.