Bon Appétit

Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread Cookies

ByClaire Saffitz

December 14, 2017

3.7

(9)

Read Reviews

Blood orange and poppy polenta shortbread cookies.

Photo by Kelsey McClellan

If you can't find blood oranges, substitute navel orange zest and juice or pick up a bottle of blood orange juice.

Ingredients

Makes 16 large or 32 small

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

2/3 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for hands

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Finely grated zest of 2 blood oranges

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 cup blood orange juice

1 cup powdered sugar

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 8x8" baking pan, preferably metal. Line with parchment paper, creating overhang on 2 sides. Lightly butter parchment. Whisk polenta, salt, and 1 1/2 cups flour in a medium bowl to combine. Place granulated sugar and blood orange and lemon zests in a large bowl and rub together with your fingers until mixture is very fragrant and sugar starts to look a little moist, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup butter and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and beat just to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Fold dough with a rubber spatula a few times to incorporate any dry bits in the bottom of the bowl. The dough will be wet and a bit sticky.
Step 2
Using floured hands, gently press half of the dough into prepared pan in an even layer. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. poppy seeds over dough; press gently to adhere. Scatter pieces of remaining dough over and press down into an even layer with floured hands. For a completely flat surface, use the bottom of a straight-sided measuring cup to smooth dough.
Step 3
Bake shortbread until edges are golden brown and center is light golden, 25–30 minutes. Let cool in pan.
Step 4
Meanwhile, simmer blood orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling often, until reduced to 2 Tbsp., 10–12 minutes. Pour into a small bowl and let cool.
Step 5
Carefully slide a small knife or offset spatula along sides of pan not lined with parchment paper, then use edges of paper to lift out shortbread onto a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice into quarters in one direction, then into eighths in the other direction (for larger bars, just cut in half first). Puzzle shortbread bars back into pan the same way they came out; set aside.
Step 6
Add powdered sugar to bowl with reduced juice and whisk until smooth. The glaze should fall off the end of the whisk in a thick, glossy, smooth ribbon. If glaze is not pourable and gets stuck in the whisk, add in water a ½-teaspoonful at a time until you get the right consistency. Drizzle glaze over shortbread in pan and use an offset spatula to smooth all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with more poppy seeds and let shortbread sit until glaze is set, at least 1 hour.
Step 7
Just before serving, retrace cuts with a sharp knife and remove bars from pan.
Do Ahead
Step 8
Shortbread can be baked 3 days ahead. Once glaze is set, cover tightly and store at room temperature.

Sign InorSubscribe
to leave a Rating or Review

How would you rate Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread Cookies?

Leave a Review

Reviews (9)

Flavor was great - I agree navel or cara cara oranges would have been fine. One huge problem is that I used cornmeal made for polenta (coarse grind) and the polenta did not cook in the recipe so like a previous reviewer, the cookies were impossible to chew without feeling like I was going to break a tooth. Use a finer grind and it may work better. Maybe cooking the polenta before adding to the batter would work better? Otherwise I loved the flavor....
- Anonymous
- Chicago, IL
- 12/28/2020
爱的味道和质地和颜色. The only minor issue: the cookies did not look like the ones in the photo. They were only about 3/8" high and therefore you couldn't really see the layers.
- jsbjk
- Winnetka, IL
- 3/6/2020
I would agree with the previous reviewer that these have a great orange flavour, but the texture is a bit off-putting. I also found that a whole tsp of salt was way too much. The cookies initially taste wonderful, but leave a salty after-taste which is quite unpleasant. If I were to make these again I would at least halve the salt and use less polenta. Honestly, I'd rather just use a more traditional shortbread recipe infused with the citrus zest and add the blood orange icing.
- Anonymous
- 1/19/2020
I’m unable to edit previous review which I now feel was too positive too soon. It’s now day 2 and no one at our household wants to eat them at all because of the grainy texture and very hard bits from polenta. What a waste!
- jelena_p
- 1/28/2019
这些漂亮的味道,但添加玉米粥宠坏了the texture for me. It was hard and on top of the poppy seeds these cookies really did not need any more crunch. I recommend using cornmeal or just flour instead. Also not sure it was worth searching for expensive blood oranges. My icing color was much darker than in the picture and the flavor not much different from regular orange. More common Cara Cara oranges could be easily substituted here, I think. Also when putting the cookies back ino the pan after cutting mine did not want to cooperate. I baked them 35 min too as they seemed not done before. To be honest, I’m not sure these are worth all the fuss and doubt I’ll make them again.
- jelena_p
- 1/27/2019
These were really delicious. I wish I cooked them a little bit longer. I used cara cara oranges for the juice. I let them cool overnight before putting on the glaze and I used a mini offset spatula which worked quite well.
- jenprivette
- Burien, WA
- 12/10/2018
OMG - These are amazing and so addictive - a very grown up shortbread. I am not a fan of sweet desserts but had some blood oranges from my produce box so decided to give it a try. The polenta gives it a lovely texture and definitely don't skip the icing - it isn't too sweet and is a nice contrast to the shortbread base. This will be a regular in my house!
- sasavant
- Sydney, Australia
- 8/24/2018
I agree with Trilobite01. I almost didn't do the icing--I don't like overly sweet--but the cookies themselves are not too sweet, so the balance was perfect! Also, I have celiac disease, and 2 parts oat flour to 1 part rice flour and a tbsp of tapioca starch worked really well for a gf version.
- nerabene
- Pasadena, CA
- 3/11/2018
AMAZING. The flavor is just perfect. The recipe is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. It was hard to stop eating them. I would just emphasize the importance of LETTING THEM COOL before you try to manipulate them. They are very delicate, so when you ice them, consider using a piping bag and drizzle over the cookies instead of spreading with a spatula.
- trilobite01
- Los Angles, CALos Angles, CA
- 12/25/2017