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Pennsylvania Dutch spice drop cookies dotted with currents, drizzled with orange icing for Christmas.
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4 from 7 votes

Pennsylvania Dutch Spice & Currant Christmas Cookies

Course: Dessert
Author: Susan Pridmore

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1 cup 4.8 ounces all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 cup currants
  • 4 ½ ounces unsalted butter
  • 5 ounces granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup sour cream

Vanilla Icing

  • ½ cup + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice

Instructions

Cookies

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and allspice in a medium bowl. Toss in the currants.
  • Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, until the butter turns a couple of shades lighter. Add the eggs, and mix on a medium speed for 2 minutes. Beat in the sour cream.
  • Gradually fold in the flour mixture using a rubber spatula. Drop small mounds of dough on the parchment paper – I use an ice-cream scooper for this so they’re all the same size. It doesn’t matter how close they are to each other at this point. Freeze for 2 hours. This will help the cookies to hold their shape instead of completely flattening during baking.
  • Preheat the oven to 350˚F, and rearrange the cookies onto two baking sheets, at least 1 ½” apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Completely cool on a rack before icing.
  • Note: Feel free to skip the freezing step if you don’t mind thin, flat cookies.

Icing

  • Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl, and add the orange juice. Stir together and adjust for thickness as desired. If you prefer it thicker, add a little more powdered sugar; if you want it thinner, add a little more orange juice. Drizzle over the tops of the cookies. I have a squirt bottle I use, but fork tines work fine too!
  • Note: I ice cookies on the cooling racks, and place a sheet of parchment paper or foil underneath to catch any extra drizzle. If I scrape up the excess drizzle before it hardens, I can add it back into the squeeze bottle to reduce waste.