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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!
And 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 that tastes delicious and works brilliantly for cutting or shaping cookies, effortless and ready in no time.
With the holiday season upon us, this foolproof and budget-friendly cookie recipe will help you to bake these delicious cookies that look and taste divine: perfectly sweet, fruity and chocolaty, tender inside and crisp outside.
Yes, cookie success is in your near future!
What ingredients you need
- Oranges
- Flour
- Egg
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Dark chocolate
- Baking powder
- Vanilla essence (optional)
- Gold sprinkles (optional)
How to make them
STEP 1:
- Whisk egg and sugar
- Then stir in oil, vanilla, orange juice, and zest
STEP 2:
- Incorporate flour and baking powder
- The dough starts to take shape
- Then bring it together gently by hands, inside the bowl
- Your cookie dough is now ready and smooth
STEP 3:
You can shape your cookies by hands:
- Just roll each portion of dough between your hands into perfectly round balls
- Then gently press each ball
Or you can roll it out:
- Roll the dough out
- Cut the dough into your favorite shapes. I love stars and snowflakes, and these are my favorite holiday cookie cutters!
Freeze the cookies on their baking pans for about 20-30 minutes.
Then, bake!
STEP 4:
- 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 (240grams) all-purpose flour or light spelt flour
- 2 oranges, zest
- 1 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 or cut into approx 20 cookies. You can roll out the dough evenly (about 1/4 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface or between two large sheets of parchment paper. Then cut it into different shapes.Or you can gently roll each portion of dough between your hands into perfectly round balls (about 1.5 inch in diameter) and press them gently when you place them on the baking pan (see picture above).
- 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 for the balls and about 10-12 minutes for the stars. 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.
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!
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 🙂
Very nice biscotti! I baked them twice and noticed how freezing the dough really helps texture. The orange is a wonderful addition!
I’m so pleased you liked them, and thanks for your comment, Debora xx 🙂