Chocolate-Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies – Three big holiday flavors combine to form an irresistible treat that will be the hit of your year-end party (if you don’t gobble them up yourself, that is).
During the holiday season (or any season, really) my favorite thing to nibble on is shortbread. Call it an obsession with butter if you must, but aside from the buttery goodness, my love for this cookie results from it being a delightful blank slate for showcasing seasonal flavors. My favorite additions to a shortbread cookie are nuts, berries, chocolate, and, most of all – citrus.
Combining chocolate and orange in a yummy little shortbread cookie seemed to be the natural thing to do this Christmas. Actually, confession time… My husband and I have been in a chocolate-orange food disposition as of late. Check out my recipe for Orange Cannoli Pancakes, which is a wild card winner on Food52 by the way! My husband is also currently developing a chocolate orange cocktail, which will debut before Christmas – after I taste-test a few more… 😉 By the way, drinking a chocolate orange cocktail with a jar full of these cookies in front of you tends to lead to poor judgment in cookie consumption. So for goodness sake, be careful!
This recipe comes together pretty quickly, since shortbread cookies are about as simple as it gets in the cookie-making department. A lot of butter, plus a medium amount of flour, and a little powdered sugar makes shortbread goodness. To add the delightful orange flavor I used a couple of teaspoons of Cointreau and some orange zest, which gave the cookie a natural orange flavor.
Once the cookies were baked and cooled, the naked little orange shortbread wafers were just begging to be dipped in a little melted dark chocolate.
A quick dunk and a few hours to dry (hint: speed this up by sticking them on a chilly patio) and you’ll have a sophisticated yet simple cookie that will be a hit whether you take them to a holiday party or decide to keep them all to yourself and eat them without abandon in front of your Christmas tree while sipping on a chocolate orange cocktail. Not that I would know anything about that…
- ½ C (1 stick) salted butter at room temperature
- ⅓ C plus 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 tsp orange liqueur (Cointreau)
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 C unbleached flour
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 C dark chocolate morsels
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream the butter and then add powdered sugar and cream together with a hand mixer. Add orange liqueur and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth.
- Add flour and orange zest to the bowl and work the two ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture using a spatula or your hands. Take care not to over-mix. You're going for well-combined, but not beaten.
- Scoop the mixture into the middle of a piece of plastic wrap, mold into a log shape about 1½ inches in diameter, then roll up in the plastic wrap and tie off the ends. Place in the freezer for 1 hour.
- After the dough has hardened in the freezer, preheat your oven to 350ºF. Cut the dough out of the plastic wrap and cut in ⅛ inch think slices. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment and bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to turn golden brown.
- Allow the cookies 20 minutes to cool. Meanwhile, microwave your chocolate in a small microwave safe dish by heating in 1 minute increments at 30% power, stirring in between each increment. Continue to do this until the chocolate is melted - warm to the touch, but not hot.
- Dip each cookie half-way into the chocolate and then place on a nonstick surface to harden. A silicone mat or parchment paper works well for this. Sprinkle the chocolate with fresh orange zest as desired. Enjoy once set.
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Those look mouthwatering good! I always forget about shortbread but it is so delicious! I just may have to add these to my holiday baking list!
I absolutely adore chocolate, orange and shortbread! Mmmm. I need to make these soon!
These look so amazing!! Just pinned. Now all I can think about are these cookies!
These are gorgeous! Chocolate and orange is such a great combo!
Love the combination of orange and chocolate – these sound delicious and look beautiful!
Could you use orange extract in place of the Cointreau?
Hey Jane! I’m glad that you asked. I actually initially made these with orange extract when I was playing with the recipe and it was really good. I then tried it with the orange liqueur and liked it a little bit better, but there wasn’t a huge difference. If you don’t have any orange liqueur on hand I say totally go for the orange extract! The orange extract is stronger than the liqueur so I’d substitute with 1 tsp of extract. Happy baking!
These cookies look absolutely amazing! I think chocolate and orange are perfect flavours combined! Pinned!
Congrats on your F52 Wildcard win. . .I must check out those pancakes as they sound amazing (plus the hubby loves cannolis so I am certain they would be a win in our house as well).
Chocolate and orange is not a bad kick to be on. . .they are so appropriate for this time of year and I think they dress up your shortbread nicely.
Btw. . .can’t wait for that cocktail. I sounds absolutely divine. Tell your hubby to get cracking on it. 🙂
Gah, these cookies are beautiful, and I am seriously excited about the upcoming cocktail. Thank you for your sacrifice of taste testing them so that you can bring it to us! 😉 Pinning these cookies!
I’m Oooing & Ahhhhing myself silly!!! I can and totally will do this!! So fun!
I love orange. I love chocolate. And I love shortbread cookies! YOU HAVE FOUND ME A COOKIE I CAN FINALLY MARRY!
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe 😀
My husband recently admitted he enjoys oranged flavoured cakes and cookies. I’m going to try make him a batch of these beauties before Christmas. They look amazing!
These are lovely! The simplicity, classic flavor combo, and, of course, the Cointreau! Love this cookie recipe!
Ohhhh chocolate orange. What a match made in heaven. Especially added to shortbread! These look so more-ish! And I love your animated GIF!
Haha, I was going to leave a gushing comment but I cannot even come close to Levan’s. I’m dying laughing 🙂
Looks delicious – I wish Levan and your cookies a fruitful marriage 😉
Yummy, chocolate and orange one of my favorite flavor combos, with buttery shortbread.
I noticed your recipe uses salted butter instead of unsalted. Most of the recipes I’ve seen for shortbread uses unsalted so I’m just double checking before making these.
Thanks!
Lynn
Salted is correct! It plays nicely with the orange and chocolate. 🙂