Orange Creamsicle Cookies Recipe

Course: cookie, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 12

Chill Time: 15

Total Time: 37

Servings: cookies

Calories: 138kcal

Author: Becky Hardin

Get a hit of nostalgia with these dreamy cookies made with jell-o mix and ice cream that taste just like an Orange Creamsicle!

Print Recipe

US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Kitchen Scale (optional)
Hand Mixer
2 Baking Sheet
Cookie Portion Scoop

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1¼ cups granulated sugar
½ cup salted butter slightly melted (1 stick)
2 large eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract optional
3 ounces orange Jell-O mix (1 box)
½ cup vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon orange zest (from 1 orange)
1½ cups white chocolate chips divided

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda together. Set the dry mixture aside for now.
3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1½ teaspoons baking soda
In a separate large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the granulated sugar and butter together on high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. The mixture will look a bit crumbled but that’s okay – it will come together more in the next step.
1¼ cups granulated sugar, ½ cup salted butter
Beat the eggs and vanilla (on high) into the butter mixture until light and a bit fluffy, about 1 minute.
2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Beat the orange Jell-O powder, ice cream, and orange zest (on high speed) into the wet mixture until well combined, about 1 minute.
3 ounces orange Jell-O mix, ½ cup vanilla ice cream, 1 tablespoon orange zest
Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and beat on low just until combined (until you no longer see streaks of white flour). Do not overmix.
Use a spatula (not the electric mixer) to gently fold in 1¼ cups of the white chocolate chips (set aside the remaining ¼ cup of white chocolate chips for now). It’s important to not use the electric mixer for this step. If the dough is over mixed, the cookies won’t be soft and chewy.
1½ cups white chocolate chips
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a 2-tablespoon sized cookie scoop, scoop balls of cookie dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet. These cookie dough balls will be about 30 grams each. The cookies can be close together for this step but not touching or they’ll stick together.
Use your hands to roll the cookies into round balls. This cookie dough will be really sticky. Spray your hands lightly with nonstick spray so the cookie dough balls don’t get stuck to your hands. Top the cookie dough balls with the remaining ¼ cup of the white chocolate chips.
Place the tray of unbaked cookies in freezer for 15 minutes. Freezing the cookies before baking helps to prevent the cookies from spreading too much during baking.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper, take some cookies out of the freezer then place those cookies on the baking sheet. Cookies should be at least 2 inches from each other on the baking sheet to allow a bit of space for spreading. It is important to only bake one tray of cookies at a time to ensure an even baking temperature for all cookies. Leave the rest of the cookies in the freezer until you are ready to bake them.
Place one tray of cookies into the oven to bake. Bake each tray of cookies for 12-13 minutes. The baked cookies will look slightly undercooked on the tops but they’ll continue to bake on the hot tray after you remove them from the oven. You don’t want to overbake the cookies or they won’t be soft and chewy.
Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the hot baking tray before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Make sure not to use sugar-free Jell-O in this recipe. The cookies will not turn out right.
Add the Jell-O mix as a dry ingredient. Do not prepare the Jell-O!
I used white chocolate, but feel free to use milk, dark, or semisweet chocolate if you prefer.
Feel free to add other mix-ins like chopped nuts or dried fruit in place of some of the white chocolate chips in this recipe. Keep the total mix-ins to 1½ cups.
Try swapping out the orange Jell-O for your favorite flavor, like strawberry, blackberry, peach, lemon, apricot, raspberry, cherry, or pineapple. Swap the orange zest for ½ teaspoon of the matching flavor extract, or just use vanilla extract!
Freeze your cookie dough before baking to prevent spreading.
You can freeze the raw cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Start by laying the raw cookie dough balls flat in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for 2 hours, then transfer to an airtight container or Ziplock bag. Add 2 minutes of baking time if baking from a frozen state.
Bake cookies one tray at a time for best results.

Storage: Store orange creamsicle cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Nutrition