Great Holiday Citrus Cookies and Cakes

Holidays are a great time to impress your family and friends with some great baked desserts. This holiday season instead of making the same old desserts shake things up by baking some citrus fruit desserts. People who cannot eat chocolate will appreciate having an alternative to chocolate desserts that they can eat, and these light and refreshing desserts are appropriate for everything from a brunch or breakfast to a cocktail party to a late night snack for Santa. Here are some of the most recommended citrus cookies and cakes for the holidays:

Lemon Ornaments – These cookies are a fun replacement for traditional sugar cookies. They can be decorated just like traditional sugar cookies, and you can make them in any shape, but they have an added citrus flavor that is a nice change from traditional sugar cookies during the holidays. To make these light citrus cookies use fresh lemon juice instead of water in a regular sugar cookie recipe and add about a quarter of a cup of lemon zest and orange zest to the batter. Cook and decorate like you usually do.

Orange Almond Macaroons – Put a citrus twist on this popular holiday cookie by mixing almond paste with a little fresh Florida orange juice and grated orange zest before baking. To add a more exotic citrus taste make these cookies with Honeybell juice and use Honeybell zest instead of Florida orange juice and zest. The slightly sweet and slightly sour taste of a Honeybell will add a great twist to the sweetness of the almond paste.

Gingerbread with Citrus Sauce – Gingerbread is a Christmas classic, but this year top your homemade gingerbread with a luscious citrus sauce that will really enhance the taste of the gingerbread. Bake gingerbread cookies or make a gingerbread the way that you usually do, but whip up this delicious sauce and serve it warm over the gingerbread. Take two or three peeled Florida oranges or Honeybell tangelos cut, peeled, and sliced in sections. There should be about a cup to two cups of sliced segments. Mix the orange segments with fresh lemon juice and lemon and orange zest, butter, sugar and cornstarch. Add a little orange liquor if you want to really enhance the taste. Warm up the sauce on the stove and drizzle it over the gingerbread or serve it in a small dipping bowl. Your guests will love it.

Taste the Sunshine with Hale Groves

At Hale Groves, we believe the best gifts come from the land, not a factory. For generations, our fruit has been grown slowly under the Florida sun, picked at its peak, and delivered fresh to your door. From sweet Navel Oranges to rare Honeybells, every gift shares the simple joy of real flavor—perfect for holidays, milestones, or everyday moments worth celebrating.

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