With their big citrus flavor and glitzy sugar rims, these slice-and-bake cookies have all the pizzazz they need to grace a holiday cookie box. Their citrus goodness comes from three sources: orange oil, Fiori di Sicilia, and candied peel, which creates extra pockets of flavor. Rolling the logs of dough in sparkling sugar before they’re sliced ensures that every cookie is equal parts sandy, crisp, and crunchy.
Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along.
In a small bowl, place the peel and cover with hot water. Cover and set aside while you mix the dough.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, or working in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, combine the sugars, salt, extracts, and orange oil until the sugar smells fragrant and looks damp, about 30 seconds.
Add the butter and beat on medium-low speed until smooth and well combined, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat on medium speed to combine, about 1 minute. (It’s OK if the mixture looks curdled at first — it will smooth out.)
Strain the peel and press gently to remove any excess moisture.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour and peel, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and divide it in half (about 500g per piece). Shape each piece into a roughly 11"-long log.
To make a perfectly round log, place one log of dough on a sheet of parchment, then fold the parchment away from you to encase the dough. Use your nondominant hand to press a straight object (a ruler or a bench knife works well) between the dough and the work surface, then use your dominant hand to gently tug the parchment away from you. This should pull the dough so that it butts up against the straight object and makes a very smooth, symmetrical log. See this blog post, How to make round cookies, for a visual demonstration. Repeat this process with the other piece of dough.
Sprinkle the sparkling sugar in a 2"-wide strip on a piece of parchment or a baking sheet. Roll each dough log in the sugar to coat.
Wrap the sugar-coated logs in plastic wrap or transfer to Slice-and-Bake Cookie Dough Keepers. Cover and refrigerate until very firm, 1 to 2 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Working with one log at a time, remove from the refrigerator, unwrap, and slice into 1/4"-thick rounds. Rotate the log about 90° (a quarter turn) every 3 or 4 slices to maintain a neat circular shape. Transfer the slices to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2" apart.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
Store leftover slice-and-bake cookies, well-wrapped, at room temperature for up to 7 days; freeze for longer storage.
