Bourbon Old Fashioned Cocktail Cookies

“Coming back to make these again, this time for a cookie exchange. They’re a big hit!! Thank you!”

—Nicole

Pending no huge finale blunders, Mad Men will likely go down in history as one of my all-time favorite shows, right up there with The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Breaking Bad. 

It’s been particular interesting to me, because back when the show started in 2007, I was smack dab in the middle of what turned out to be a five-year stint in advertising before following my true passion.

Don Draper’s ad agency of 1960 was filled with drinking and smoking on the job, and afternoon naps in the office. My ad agency in 2007 was filled with crappy coffee, Excel spreadsheets, and mind-numbing conference calls. The one thing I can relate to Don Draper on? The love of a great Old Fashioned.

While I’m more likely to have one per week rather than 9 or 10 during an afternoon, the flavors of this cocktail will never go out of style in my book. While I’ve been known to make twists on the classic (and have perfected my best bourbon smash recipe) I generally like to make them with a demerara sugar cube, a bit of orange peel, bourbon, orange bitters, a big ol’ ice ball and a couple Luxardo cherries if I have them.

I’d been toying around with the idea of Bourbon Old Fashioned Cocktail Cookies for nearly a year now, and with the Mad Men finale coming up in just a few weeks, there truly is no time like the present. I took my family’s trusted sour cream sugar cookie recipe, and flavored it with orange bitters and zested orange peel instead of nutmeg.

I generously spread each cookie with cream cheese frosting spiked with bourbon. A sprinkle of powdered sugar, and a little garnish of orange peel later, and I’m ready to curl up on the couch with a plate of these cookies and see how everything turns out for Don and company.

Bourbon Old Fashioned Cocktail Cookies

Author: Lori Yates

Yield: 36 cookies

Prep: 1 hour hour

Cook: 8 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour 8 minutes minutes

The flavors of this cookie never go out of style!

5 from 2 ratings

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Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• ▢ 1 stick unsalted butter, softened slightly (but NOT melted) in microwave 8 tablespoons
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg at room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup full fat sour cream at room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ Grated zest of 1 Valencia orange
• ▢ ½ teaspoon orange bitters
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus more if needed, and additional for rolling

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• ▢ 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 tablespoons
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 5 teaspoons bourbon

For the Garnish (optional):

• ▢ 36 thin pieces of orange peel
• ▢ Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Make the Cookies:

• In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
• Add egg, sour cream, baking soda, orange zest, orange bitters and vanilla and mix at medium speed until well combined.
• Gradually beat in flour. This will be a very thick dough. If dough seems too thin and sticky, gradually add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until combined and you have a nice thick dough (do not add more than 2 additional tablespoons of flour). Cover and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, allow dough to come to room temperature for 15 minutes.
• Flour work surface and rolling pin very well. In batches, roll chunks of dough (about 1 cup dough) to about 1/8-inch thickness (it is helpful to flatten dough with your hands into a disc before you start rolling it out).
• Cut dough using 3-inch round cookie cutters.
• In batches, as you finish rolling and cutting them, transfer cookies to unlined cookie sheets. Baking time is very dependent on exact oven temperature and cookie sheet you use. Transfer cookies to oven and bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes or until they just begin to become light golden brown around the edges (start checking them at 8 minutes until you know how long your oven will take). Cookies will be very soft when they come out of the oven. Carefully transfer to parchment paper and let cool completely before frosting.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Place cream cheese and butter in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer to low; gradually mix in powdered sugar, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add bourbon; beat until well combined.
• To decorate, spread each cookie with about 1 tablespoon frosting and garnish with orange peel and powdered sugar, if desired. Cookies are best eaten the day they are frosted and served. Store any leftover cookies in refrigerator.

Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 145kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 26mg, Sodium: 54mg, Potassium: 22mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 268IU, Vitamin C: 0.03mg, Calcium: 13mg, Iron: 0.3mg

This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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