Saffron Orange Cookies

Shamelessly stolen and slightly modified from here, mostly by adding the orange flavor, and giving a few more details on the steps.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a tiny bowl combine:

1/4-1/2 tsp ground saffron (i.e., AFTER grinding it, you should have 1/4-1/2 tsp.)

2 tsp hot water

You can even microwave these together for a few seconds to keep the water warm.

In a large bowl whisk together:

1 cup butter, unsalted, melted [about 60 sec in microwave]

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange extract

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Whisk in one at a time:

4 eggs, large

Stir in the saffron mixture and:

2 cup raisins or currants or a mix of the two

Fold into the batter until a soft dough forms:

2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Wait 5 minutes for dough to thicken up a bit.

Using two teaspoons, drop teaspoonfuls of batter, spaced 2-inches apart, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can get 20 cookies on a sheet, and this recipe will make about 80 cookies total.

Bake until slightly golden, 10-15 minutes. [11-12 minutes, on the top rack of the oven, worked well for me]

Allow cookies to cool for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet.

Let cookies cool completely on a cooling rack.