Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone knows that chocolate and orange make a great combination.  When I was a young child, it was a tradition in our household to share a chocolate orange on holidays.

You know, these things

I remember always wanting to be the one to whack it against the table.

So, I once thought, what if I make a cookie recipe that combined these two flavors.  Well, let me tell you, it was a good idea. 🙂

 

Orange Chocolate Cookie Recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar, divided(you can use packed brown sugar)
• Zest of 1 1/2 oranges, divided
• 2 sticks of room temperature butter (or 16 tbsp of buttery spread, or any type of oil (except olive oil))
• 2 eggs (or 3 egg whites or 1/2 cup of thoroughly blended silken tofu)
• 2 tsp orange extract
• 1-2 tbsp orange juice
• 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet, but milk and white chocolate would both work well)

Directions:

• Orange sugar: In a mini food processor, thoroughly process 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 tsp orange zest.
• Cookie dough: In a large mixing bowl mix together butter, 1 1/2 cup of sugar, eggs, orange extract, orange juice, and remaining orange zest. Sift in flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips.
• Refrigerate dough for at least one hour.
• During the last 5 minutes of refrigeration, preheat oven to 350° F.
• Roll cookie dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls and roll into lemon sugar. Place sugar-coated balls onto greased [or nonstick] pan at least two inches apart.  Press down on each ball lightly to help it spread out.
• Bake 10-12 minutes.

Have you ever eaten a chocolate orange?