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These beautiful orange cookies are made using fresh orange juice and zest and they’re dipped in scrumptious dark chocolate. They are SUPER EASY to make and require only 1-BOWL!
When I say EASY, I mean no mixer required, no creaming of soft butter, no chilling the dough for hours. But simply mix a few cupboard ingredients in a bowl, and the dough will come together in a breeze: smooth, pliable, and easy to work with.
Basically, how to make cookie dough in its most basic form, effortless, and ready in no time.
With the holiday season upon us, these foolproof and budget-friendly orange cookies are the perfect addition to your Christmas cookie tray, along with these easy almond cookies and almond biscotti!
What ingredients you need
- Oranges
- Flour
- Egg
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Dark chocolate
- Baking powder
- Vanilla essence (optional)
- Gold sprinkles (optional)
How to make them
(Note: full recipe at the bottom of the page)
- Whisk egg and sugar
- Then stir in oil, vanilla, orange juice, and zest
- Incorporate flour and baking powder
- Bring the dough together gently by hands, inside the bowl
- Your cookie dough is now ready and smooth
- Roll each portion of dough between your hands into perfectly round balls
- Then gently press each ball
- Freeze the cookies on their baking pans for about 20-30 minutes.
- Bake.
- Melt the dark chocolate
- Then dip each cookie halfway into a bowl of luscious melted chocolate
Ahhhh this is the best part, I LOVE that!
RECIPE NOTES
Skip the store-bought cookie dough and learn how to make cookies from scratch! This super easy recipe gives you about 20 lovely chocolate and orange cookies in no time!
Cost? Approx 25 cents EACH 🙂
These orange cookies are also pretty healthy and don’t require tons of butter, sugar, food coloring and candies, very popular at this time of year. They’re made instead with fresh oranges, whole-grain spelt flour and healthy dark chocolate.
And what about this amazing golden dust? I love it, it turns each cookie into something special!
CAN COOKIE DOUGH BE FROZEN?
Yes, you can freeze this cookie dough or, alternately, you can freeze unbaked cookies and then bake them from frozen, no need to thaw. Easy, right?
DO YOU NEED TO CHILL COOKIE DOUGH?
Chilling cookie dough prior to baking usually lends itself to crispy, well-shaped and slightly stronger flavored cookies.
If time allows, chilling the dough is always a good practice and gives better results.
However, if you’re short on time and you want cookies ready in 30 minutes, you can skip this step in this recipe.
I tried to bake these orange cookies with and without chilling them. They always spread nicely in the oven, and they turn out soft and chewy for days. The main difference I notice is a lighter color and a less crispy texture, but the cookies are still nice and taste delicious.
If you love these cookies, have a look at my chocolate almond biscotti and dark chocolate truffles, they also make lovely Christmas gifts. Or you fancy more Christmas cookies recipes, here you’ll find a brilliant collection of creative and irresistible cookies!
If you make these chocolate orange cookies, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!
1-BOWL CHOCOLATE ORANGE COOKIES
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour or light spelt flour
- 2 oranges, zest
- 1 medium-sized egg
- 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp (85 grams) white sugar or unrefined cane sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable oil (I used expeller pressed canola oil)
- 2 Tbsp (30 ml) orange juice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
DARK CHOCOLATE
- 1/3 cup (60-70 grams) dark chocolate, cut into chunks*
- 1 tsp Gold sprinkles , optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk egg and sugar together until the batter has become lighter in color and the sugar is thoroughly dissolved.
- Then add oil, vanilla, orange zest and juice, and mix well.
- Stir in flour and baking powder. Mix until most of the flour is incorporated (see picture above), then using your hands gently bring the dough together into a smooth, soft and pliable ball. You don't need to knead it on a surface, but simply put the dough together inside the bowl.
- Now, your dough is ready to be shaped into approx 20 cookies. Gently roll each portion of dough between your hands into perfectly round balls (about 1.5 inches in diameter) and press them gently when you place them on the baking pan.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, than place each cookie on the baking pans leaving a couple of inches around each cookie.
- Freeze the cookies on their pans for about 20-30 minutes*
- When you're ready to bake, place the oven rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 360 degrees.
- Bake time for me has been about 13-15 minutes, but since baking time will vary and may take longer depending on the size of your cookies, I suggest starting your timer with 10 minutes and see how they look. These cookies are done when they are barely golden brown on the edges.
- When the cookies are ready, gently transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate*. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and remove bowl from heat. Stir occasionally until smooth and glossy. Dip each cookie in the chocolate and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- If you are decorating with sprinkles, this is when you would sprinkle your cookies.
- Place cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes until chocolate hardens. Ready!
Notes
Unbaked cookie dough freezes well for up to 1 month. Alternately, you can freeze unbaked cookies and then bake them from frozen, no need to thaw.
Ramona Harwell
I like these very much. The prep time of 10 minutes was misleading. It took 10 minutes just to zest the oranges! Between zesting the oranges and squeezing for juice, mixing them, rolling them, chilling them, cooking them, cooling them, and then dipping them, it took me about 2 hours, all told. Very light, but I thought a little too dry. I will add 1-2 more tablespoons of orange juice next time to see if that makes them more moist. Not very sweet, which my husband liked, but I think I will add another tablespoon or two of sugar next time. The orange flavor and dark chocolate complement each other well. They were very thick and did not spread at all. Next time, I will make them 1″ balls and flatten them to no more than 1/2″ thick. I really enjoyed making this recipe because it’s different from anything I’ve baked before. Will definitely make them again!
Katia
Thanks for sharing your feedback and tips, Ramona! I agree, the prep time needs to be adjusted, especially if you include the chilling time. : )
I’m so pleased you and your husband liked them! x
Carolina Franco
Hi..I made this recipe but the dough was too “liquid”! Why would that be? I had to add more flour at the end cause It was impossible to work on surface and cut the stars. 🙁
Katia
Carolina, sorry to hear the dough turned out liquid! Have you made any changes, by any chance?
I tested the recipe several times, especially the cookie balls, but I’m testing again the star shapes just to make sure the recipe is perfect for everyone.
Thank you for your comment x
Debora Bellintani
Very nice biscotti! I baked them twice and noticed how freezing the dough really helps texture. The orange is a wonderful addition!
Katia
I’m so pleased you liked them, and thanks for your comment, Debora xx 🙂
Cyndi M
Are these durable enough to be shipped? I’ve been looking for another flavor of cookies to send with our Christmas packages & these look gorgeous & sound so tasty!
Katia
Thanks for stopping by, Cyndi! And sorry if you’ve got a previous message from me, I was replying to multiple comments and got confused 🙂
These orange cookies last for up to one week/10 days if stored in an airtight container (metal tins are the best!). I wouldn’t ship them wrapped or in a plastic bag, that might affect their texture and the chocolate decoration might look a bit messy, not pretty. In a couple of days, I’ll be publishing a super easy biscotti recipe. Biscotti usually last long, even a couple of weeks, and since they’re not delicate, they’re the perfect cookies to ship if you wish 🙂