Chewy Chocolate Orange Cookies Recipe

By
Carrie Vasios Mullins
Carrie Vasios Mullins is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Carrie Vasios Mullins
Carrie Vasios Mullins is the former national editor at Serious Eats, with a focus on all things sweet.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated February 24, 2022
Stack of thin chocolate cookies next to glass of milk

Serious Eats / Carrie Vasios

Why It Works

  • A combination of orange zest and orange juice distributes orange flavor uniformly throughout the cookie.
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder adds a flavor base note.

Those chocolate orange balls that you eat around Christmastime. Chocolate-covered orange peel. Chocolate bars with candied citrus. Yup, I'm a sucker for basically anything in the chocolate-orange category. Yet I didn't have a recipe for chocolate-orange cookies—something I finally decided to remedy.

The first cookies I made were soft chocolate drop cookies studded with pieces of candied orange. They were fine, but only having the occasional pop of orange flavor wasn't enough to satisfy my craving. I wanted uniformly chocolatey-orangey cookies. I also decided soft wasn't the right texture for this flavor combination. Chewy, for whatever reason, seemed like the better way to go.

So instead, I used the tried and true combination of orange zest and juice to give the cookies a bright citrus flavor. Unsweetened cocoa powder adds the backbone of dark chocolate, while a good dose of plain white sugar marries the two. These cookies are bendy and chewy, with just the lightest crispness up top. "Like the edge of a brownie," said one friend who graciously ate a whole pan acting as cookie tester.

Want to make these kid-friendly? Hand them a cookie with a glass of milk. These guys make great dunkers.

March 06, 2013

Stack of thin chocolate cookies next to glass of milk

Serious Eats / Carrie Vasios

Recipe Details

Chewy Chocolate Orange Cookies Recipe

Active 15 mins
Total 60 mins
Serves 24 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

  • 1 1/3 cup (about 9 ounces) sugar

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 tablespoon orange juice and 1 teaspoon grated zest from 1 orange

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in orange juice and zest. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

  3. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough by the rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake until dry on top, about 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Special equipment

Stand mixer, baking sheet, parchment paper, zester.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
107Calories
4gFat
16gCarbs
1gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24
Amount per serving
Calories107
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g5%
Saturated Fat 2g12%
Cholesterol 18mg6%
Sodium 58mg3%
Total Carbohydrate 16g6%
Dietary Fiber 0g2%
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg2%
Calcium 9mg1%
Iron 1mg5%
Potassium 12mg0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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