Where have these cookies been all my life?! I’m absolutely in love with these easy slice-and-bake Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies. There’s orange zest and orange juice in the cookie dough and they’re finished with luscious chocolate and a little more orange zest and sea salt. If you love chocolate and orange, you will adore these easy cookies!
These are perfect for a Christmas cookie. Just look at how gorgeous they are! Plus orange is such a lovely Christmas flavor that everyone seems to forget about. I wish you could smell these. The sweet scent of orange and chocolate and butter is just intoxicating!
You definitely need to thoroughly chill the dough so plan accordingly. It needs at least four hours in the fridge but you can even chill the dough for several days.
I left half the batch plain and dipped the other half in chocolate, since not everyone in my family loves chocolate like me. It’s so nice to get two versions out of one cookie dough! I hope you love this lovely cookie as much as I do.
Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
Zest from 1 orange (plus more for garnish)
2 Tbsp orange juice
Coarse sugar for rolling
4-8 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
Sea salt
- In a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add brown sugar and beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Beat in egg and vanilla, then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Slowly mix in flour and salt. Beat in fresh orange zest and juice, then divide the cookie dough in half and roll into two logs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll logs in coarse sugar, then slice into about 34-36 cookies. Place two inches apart on cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes or until starting to brown around the edges. Cool five minutes on the sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
- When cookies have cooled, chop chocolate, place in a heatproof bowl, and microwave at half power for about two minutes, stirring every 15 seconds until chocolate has almost melted. Stir to finish melting the chocolate, then dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate, finishing with a bit of orange zest and sea salt.
Note: not everyone in my family loves chocolate so I left half plain and dipped half in chocolate. Use 8 oz chocolate to dip them all in chocolate!
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