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 eggs, 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 eggs, 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
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!