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Rich, brownie-like chocolate cookies with fresh orange juice and zest

Triple Chocolate Orange Cookies

Rich, brownie-like chocolate cookies with fresh orange juice and zest!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 22 cookies
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Ingredients
  

  • 125 gms dark chocolate, 70% to 75%, chopped
  • 2 oranges (Valencia or Indian Malta work well)
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar (50 gms)
  • 1/2 cup soft brown sugar (light or dark; 100 gms)
  • 1/2 cup butter at room temperature (115 gms)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg (see notes)
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (140 gms)
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder (20 gms)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (130 gms)

Instructions

  • Melt the chocolate using a double boiler or a microwave (heating in ten second increments), stirring to melt down any lumps. Set aside to cool.
  • Add the caster sugar to a large mixing bowl and zest the oranges over it. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until moist and aromatic. Then squeeze the juice of one of the oranges into a bowl or a glass (about 1/3 cup juice, make sure there are no seeds) and set aside.
  • Add the brown sugar to the mixing bowl, followed by the butter and beat together with a hand mixer on low-medium speed until pale and fluffy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine, followed by the melted chocolate, beating briefly again.
  • Pour in the orange juice and beat again, then sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, if using. Fold it all in with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, then add the chocolate chips and stir them in. The dough is thick and sticky.
  • Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until firm enough to scoop, but not super hard. If you find that the dough has hardened considerably, let it sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before you scoop it out. Otherwise, I find the cookies barely spread and don't have the perfect brownie-like softness in the center.
  • Preheat the oven to 170 C and lightly grease a baking tray or line it with a silicone baking mat.
  • Use a medium cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoons) to scoop out 20 to 22 portions of the dough (see notes). Place them at least an inch apart on the baking tray (you might need more than one tray depending on your oven size, I bake one batch of 9 cookies at a time).
  • Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookies have spread a bit and the edges have darkened, but the centers are still puffy. Gently press down on the tops with the back of a spoon to flatten further (or firmly but gently bang the tray on the kitchen counter), then let them cool on the tray and firm up for about 20 minutes. The edges will be crisper than the center. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. This creates soft, chewy centers even 4 to 5 days later. I find that these cookies, because of the extra moisture from orange juice, soften faster than cookies without it, so if you prefer keeping them crisper, bake for about 18 minutes.
  • Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for a week. If it's very humid where you are, store them in the fridge. These cookies freeze beautifully too! You can either bring thaw them in the fridge overnight or additionally gently reheat in the oven before eating. Happy baking!

Notes

*Watch these cookies come together on Instagram!
*I have not made these cookies without eggs and do feel like the egg will be needed for structure and lightness at the same time given that there's melted chocolate in there, but I have used milk as a substitute here if you want to experiment. I also have an eggless double chocolate dough here. If I do test an eggless version, I'll update this post.
*Adapted from these triple chocolate cookies and I also have a peanut butter version!
*Prep time does not include chilling time. Cook time is per batch of cookies.
*Here is an eggless triple chocolate cookie recipe but I haven't tried an orange version of it.