I LOVE the orange-chocolate combo, it is one of my favourite festive flavours.
These Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies have an insanely chewy soft middle with perfectly crisped edges, filled with fresh orange zest to add the perfect flavour. They will guaranteed become your new favourite chocolate cookie recipe!
Ingredients in Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Butter, softened
- Brown sugar
- White sugar
- 1 Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Cocoa powder
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Instant espresso powder * Optional to enhance the chocolate flavour
- Zest of 2 medium/large oranges
- 1 dark chocolate bar (or your preferred chocolate
How to make Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Start by creaming the butter and sugar, careful not to over mix. Once just combined mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and espresso powder.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 increments, careful not to over mix. Fold in the orange zest and most of the chocolate chunks, saving some to top the cookies before baking.
- Cover the bowl of the cookie dough and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to overnight. Don’t skip this step!
- Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into balls, placing evenly spread apart between the 2 baking sheets.
- Top each cookie with a few pieces of reserved chocolate chunks, pressing down on the top of the cookies to slightly flatten.
- Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will look slightly undercooked in the centre. Allow to cool for about 2 minutes on the hot baking pan before transferring to a wire cooking rack.
- Top with some extra orange zest if desired, enjoy!
Notes on the recipe
Don’t skip chilling the cookie dough. This creates the perfect spread of the cookies while they bake. Without chilling the dough, the cookies will spread too much in the oven for my liking. This also helps to develop that orange flavour!
Spoon & level the flour. This refers to spooning the flour (and cocoa powder) into your measuring cup until overflowing, then levelling it with the back of a knife. This is the standard way to measure dry ingredients which gives you the most accurate measurement.
By scooping flour with a measuring cup right out of the bag, you risk using in more flour than the recipe intends. Baking is a delicate balance and skipping this step will likely alter the outcome of the cookies!
Substitute your favourite type of chocolate for the dark chocolate if desired. An orange chocolate bar would be perfect here!
Top with extra orange zest if you’d like. It adds a touch more orange flavour, plus is looks pretty!
Don’t forget to leave a star rating and review if you try this recipe!
And check out some other desserts on the blog like this Gluten Free Apple Crisp, or my Vegan Gingerbread Bites!
Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened *Leave out on the counter for 30mins-1 hour before using
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg room temperature *Leave out on the counter for about 30 mins prior to using
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour spooned and levelled
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder spooned and levelled
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp instant espresso powder *Optional to enhance the chocolate flavour
- Zest of 2 medium/large oranges Plus more for topping if desired
- 100g dark chocolate bar, chopped into small pieces
Instructions
- Start by creaming the butter and sugar. Using a handheld or stand mixer cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar careful not to over mix. Once just combined mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and espresso powder.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 increments, careful not to over mix. To avoid overmixing, stop stirring when the mixture is almost combined and you can still see some flour that hasn't been incorporated. At this point mix in the orange zest and most of the chocolate chunks, saving some to top the cookies before baking.
- Cover the bowl of the cookie dough and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to overnight. *See notes.
- Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough and roughly forming into balls, placing evenly spread apart between the 2 baking sheets.
- Top each cookie with a few pieces of reserved chocolate chunks, pressing down on the top of the cookies to slightly flatten.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will look slightly undercooked in the centre. Allow to cool for about 2 minutes on the hot baking pan to set before transferring to a wire cooking rack.
- Top with some extra orange zest if desired, enjoy!
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