I LOVE the Fairway in Red Hook. What a great view from the back of the store.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Lots to do!! :) Sugarcookies and lebkuchen, not to mention another batch of rainbow cookies to bring to family. http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/12/seven-layer-cookies/ :)

AJ- your cookies are beautiful! I can't recall ever seeing a cookie with zest on it before! Lovely. :)
luvcookbooks- I swoon for fairway! I am a NYC transplant. We used to take two buses and then schlep to get to fairway. Always worth it. Do you still get to bundle up in coats to go in the meat locker?
drbabs- love cardamom and actually have been craving cardamom cookies!

Happy holidays everyone!

You could try these, too. Just leave out the cardamom. (or not...it's really good!)

http://www.food52.com/recipes/3873_orangecardamom_sugar_cookies

oh my goodness. my daughter and I used to buy boxes of orange flavored bunny shaped sugar cookies at the fairway on 125th. alas, they no longer carry them and i had never seen a recipe that would recreate them. now i have several to try. thanks!!

I haven't made lebkuchen before. The recipe I have doesn't use a wafer, just ground nuts, sugar, spices, zests, flour, cocoa, salt, butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Maybe your quest will result in an even more delicious cookie than you originally made. Best of luck!

You could try my St. Clemens Orange and Lemon Cookies, but not use the lemon, just orange. The juice is somewhat minimal. You could skip it and use vanilla + a little milk. If you don't want them sweet, don't ice them, but just paint with a bit of very light sugar syrup, just enough to glue on the zest. I posted the recipe here last year, right about this time.

http://www.food52.com/recipes/2251_st_clements_orange_and_lemon_cookies

Thanks mrslarkin! We will probably try both #1 and #2 of your recipes. :) The wafers are like the host that folks receive in Catholic churches when they take communion. I think. I was raised in a mixed family, so I've seen the wafer, but being Jewish, had never eaten it (until trying lebkuchen). But I think that maybe, the wafer is part of what makes this a Christmas cookie (but it never seems to be addressed in any of the recipes). . . oy. Here is what they look like and the wafers are called oblaten:
http://www.madbaker.net/2008/01/mad-about-lebkuchen/

I always play around with this sugar cookie, and change up the additions: http://www.food52.com/recipes/3880_chewy_sugar_cookies_1

I think it would take very well to orange zest!!

But I think you could add orange zest to pretty much any sugar cookie that you like!

As far as the wafers, is this what you mean? http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/misc/waferpaper.htm I've ordered things from this company before and they are very nice and very prompt.

Thanks Hardlikearmour! We love lebkuchen, but no, these were not them. We have been talking about making lebkuchen as well and debating if we will make the host wafer that goes on the bottom of them, or find a place to purchase them (have you made those before?) . . . We may try this Martha recipe, or maybe mrslarkin's sugar cookie recipe and we will just add orange zest to them . . . the sugar cookie quest continues. :)

Were they lebkuchen (aka christmas spice cookies)? They use quite a bit of orange zest as well as lemon zest and spices. If you're thinking more of a sugar cookie with orange peel you could try the martha stewart one for citrus sugar cookies, and sub orange zest for the lemon zest. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/citrus-sugar-cookies-edf