Orange Biscuits (lemoen koekies)

Traditional Cape Malay biscuits flavoured with orange essence and dried citrus peels.

Ingredients:

250g soft butter or good quality baking butter

1 cup sugar

1 extra large egg

¼ cup sunflower oil

3 tsp orange essence

4 x 250ml cake flour, sifted

1 tsp ground naartjie/orange/satsuma peel (dried and ground)

1 tsp baking powder

Cachous (sen-sen) sweets to complete

Method:

Using a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar

Add the oil, essence and egg, mix well

Add the flour, baking powder and citrus peels

Mix well to form a firm dough

Roll out the dough approximately 5mm thick on a lightly floured surface

Cover the dough with cling film or greaseproof paper to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin

Take a fork and lightly scrape the surface of the dough to make a line pattern

Cut out rounds with a cookie cutter and place the biscuits on a baking tray (no need to grease the baking tray)

Place a sen-sen sweet in the middle of each biscuit

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 12 – 15 minutes or until lightly browned

Makes approximately 70 biscuits.