Grandma’s War Time Orange Drop Cookies are an old family favorite dating back to the second world war when rationing was in force. Grandma always came up with a great cookie for everyone enjoy!
Oh my goodness! Grandma’s War Time Orange Drop Cookies. So where did this recipe come from? It’s certainly an old one and the only history I have is that my Welsh grandmother was born in the late 1800’s. She was a mother to 10 children and A LOT of grandchildren!
My father was the 7th child born, in 1937. So at the time of the Second World War, my father would have been about 7 years old.
You can imagine in those times, when rationing was in force, and you have a huge family to feed and lots of children wanting sweet things to eat, you had to get creative that’s for sure!
My father used to tell me that when there was rationing, sugar was scarce, amongst many other ingredients, and so my grandma would make these cookies which don’t use sugar.
When I was around 10 years old, I was lucky enough to have some of Grandma’s War Time Orange Drop Cookies when I had gone for a visit. All I can say is they are absolutely delicious! My grandma at the time told me she would make these for all the children, and they would disappear before they even had time to cool!
Grandma’s War Time Orange Drop Cookies are easy to make and the texture is soft and chewy. So if you’re expecting a crunchy cookie, this isn’t it!
It’s soft and fluffy and bursting with orange. The smell when these are baking is really quite something.
These are very popular with the younger kiddies too because they are a softer cookie. They go so great with a glass of milk and at Christmas time or Easter, these would be a lovely addition to your cookie collection.
We’ve got a lovely collection of cookies on Lovefoodies so be sure to check them out and at the end of this recipe I’ll add some of our most popular ones for you to try too!
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Serves: 4 Dozen
Ingredients:
2 Tbs Orange Rind, grated
1/2 tsp Orange Flavoring
Juice of half an Orange
2/3 cup or 170 g Butter, softened
1 1/4 cups or 425 g Honey
1 Egg, beaten
2 1/2 cups or 310 g All Purpose Flour, sifted
3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C.
2. Mix together the butter and honey.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the honey mixture and fold in beaten egg, grated orange rind and orange juice.
4. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. Drop the batter in teaspoonfuls and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes.
6. When done, leave in baking tray for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack until cool. Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk or a cup of coffee!
We’d love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Here’s a few more of our most popular cookie recipes for you to enjoy!
Macadamia and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Grandma's War Time Orange Drop Cookies
Grandma's War Time Orange Drop Cookies are an old family favorite dating back to the second world war when rationing was in force. Grandma always came up with a great cookie for everyone to enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs Orange Rind, grated
- 1/2 tsp Orange Flavoring
- Juice of half an Orange
- 2/3 cup or 170 g Butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups or 425 g Honey
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 2 1/2 cups or 310 g All Purpose Flour, sifted
- 3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C.
- Mix together the butter and honey.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the honey mixture and fold in beaten egg, grated orange rind and orange juice.
- Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Drop the batter in teaspoonfuls and bake for about 8 - 10 minutes.
- When done, leave in baking tray for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack until cool. Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk or a cup of coffee!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
48Serving Size:
48Amount Per Serving: Calories: 81Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 69mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 0gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g
Linda G Cullen
Grandmas war time orange drop cookies.
Ingredients say 1 egg, beaten.
Instructions say – “fold in beaten eggs” (eggs plural).
Which is it Please?
Lovefoodies
Hi Linda, it is indeed 1 egg, and the word ‘eggs’ in the instructions is a typo which I have now amended. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! Enjoy the cookies!
Feroza sidat
Hi .. such a fantastic an easy recipe .. without sugar ! My daughter is doing a lot of work on world war 1 and 2 , so one of the final task is to research about war time rationing recipes and make it an bring it to school for they’re final exhibition for parents . She is just thrilled that she’s found this recipe which she can say it’s healthier as there’s no sugar an will be a hit with her peers as it’s COOKIES ! She really thought in those times there were no such things as sweet stuff ! Thankyou for sharing this recipe and making my daughter happy ! ?
Lovefoodies
Hi Feroza, that’s great news! And the kids will love these, after all, what’s not to like when it comes to cookies!
mc
I accidentally put in 1.5 cups of honey, instead of 1.25 cups; they came out flat, tried to fix with exrra flour and 1 tsp or baking soda…now they look weird! please help! any way to fix this?
Lovefoodies
Hi there, I think the best thing would be to start over unless you change the ratios of all the ingredients so they’re all increased at the same percentage as the honey. I think the baking soda you added was a little too much, in which case you won’t be able to reduce that now it’s all mixed in.
Hopefully when you have time to give it another go they’ll turn out perfect!
The added baking soda will certainly make the cookies taste a bit strange on your teeth!
Kathy
Use orange extract for more orange flavor. It’s in the baking section with all the other extracts.
Rebecca
My mother and father both lived throigh the second world war rationing. My mother didn’t see a single orange from one end of the war to the other. My father (who’s dad drove lorries from the London docks) did see a few (probably ‘fell of the back of a lorry!!!)
Lovefoodies
Hi Rebecca, you’re right! Oranges, Pineapples and other ‘tropical’ fruits were very rare during the war. I guess it will also depend on where you live to be able to have had oranges during the war. I think a lot of people just had to improvise with whatever they could get or grow in their gardens!
Emily
My son used this recipe for his ww2 homework. And we made them they smell amazing orange just fills the kitchen. We used slightly less honey but I’m very impressed with them. The mixture has a moose like consistency. And they came out very well. This is the first time he has done baking. He couldn’t stop eating them as I got them out of the oven. Very impressed with the results.
Marge Murray
I was just 3 when the war broke out and the 2nd eldest of 12. During the war the only cookies I remember were Graham crackers with butter and if we were lucky a little cinnamon sugar on top. I’m very fond of orange and will be trying this ASAP. Thanks for a great receipt.
Mrs baking lover
I loved it. My daughter had to make a wartime recipe for her homework and we loved it instead of 425g of honey she put 260 grams. I loved them but the flavouring we couldn’t find so we missed it out and still the taste were perfect just like the smell. Thanks so much!????
Juan de Cruz
War time orange drops were delicious and easy. Didn’t have orange drops so used a few drops vanilla and some saffron syrup. Fresh orange rind and juice was amazing. Thanks
MissBananas
I love a recipe with a story, and I had a huge jar of honey to use up so I tried this recipe. It turned out just fine and the cookies were soft and chewy as advertised. 🙂 I would have liked stronger orange flavor… I tried tripling all the orange flavor ingredients but the honey still overpowered the orange taste.
Belladonna
Making these as I type.
They smell and taste great. I’m going to do a vanilla drizzle on them to make a dreamcicle style cookie for my mother in laws.
Thank you and your grandmother for giving me a way to use up my honey and oranges lying around.
l.kinum
it is not war time, what is the equivalent amount of sugar that can be used?
l.kinum
it is not war time, what is the equivalent amount of sugar L kinumthat can be used?
laney
I.kinum you’re rude! Why didn’t you just ask if sugar could be substituted? Maybe someone would have answered you!
MsTruth
Using sugar instead of honey will affect the texture and softness of the cookie.