Mom's Orange Chocolate Cookies

October 25, 2021 in Dessert

These cookies activate a very nostalgic part of my brain. My mom had two signature cookies growing up - her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (which I will publish on here one day but I have not figured out her magic touch!) which were a regular occurrence, and then these orange chocolate cookies, which were a bit more of a rare find. She isn’t sure the origin of these cookies, it’s likely a recipe passed on to her from a friend. The aroma of the orange with the slight touch of clove brings back so many great memories for me. I love these for fall and winter with their slight touch of clove. Perfect with a cup of tea on a cool day!

A few tips for these cookies:

Cream together the butter and sugar until super fluffy

You want the mixture to look almost white before adding in the egg!

Be patient once you add in the egg

You are forcing quite a bit of liquid into fat (the butter) so it takes time for it to whip together; patience at this stage will lead to wonderfully fluffy cookies. If you have a stand mixer this is pretty straightforward as it’s hands-off but you want to whip until all the liquid is incorporated into the butter and you have a homogenous, light, extremely fluffy mixture.

Don’t over mix once you add in the flour

To ensure you don’t end up with a “tough cookie”, mix until just combined for steps 5 and 6. You could always mix by hand at this stage if you feel like your mixer might lead to over mixing (I just use the lowest setting on my stand mixer).

Drop the cookies vs shaping them

These were originally called chocolate orange drops, because instead of shaping the dough you literally just scoop with a spoon and drop onto the sheet. This gives them an imperfect shape that leads to great texture - little scraggly bits get crispy while the inside of the cookie remains soft and fluffy.

15 minute prep time, 12 minute bake time

Yield ~2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, room temperature

¾ cup brown sugar, well packed

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour (or you can do half whole wheat!)

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

⅛ tsp ground cloves

Zest of 1 orange

¼ cup orange juice (juice of 1 orange)

1 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper (if you have 2 sheets you can prep two and bake at the same time!)
Cream together butter and brown sugar with either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or hand mixer on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until it lightens in colour.
Beat in 1 egg for 3-4 minutes (or longer!) - you are looking for the egg to be fully incorporated and the mixture to be light in colour. Should look extra fluffy!
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and clove - whisk together until well combined.
Add flour mixture to butter/egg/sugar mixture, beating on low until just combined.
Add in orange zest, orange juice and chocolate chips, mix until just combined.
Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet 1 inch apart - should be about 1.5 tbsp in size (they are smaller cookies). You will likely need two cookie sheets, so you can either do this in rounds or bake two at the same time, swapping their position in the oven halfway through.
Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes until starting to turn golden brown. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a rack.

Mom's Whipped Shortbreads

December 20, 2020 in Dessert

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These are my favourite Christmas cookies. They are super simple and they just melt in your mouth. Perfect with afternoon or after-dinner tea. I like making them small because they are basically just sugar, butter and flour. They are best as a one or two-bite treat! The best thing about these cookies is they are only 4 ingredients, all of which you probably have on hand. They do take some time to firm up after they are baked so I recommend making them at least the day before you plan on serving them to ensure they aren’t too delicate to touch.

Here are a few common questions on these cookies:

Do I need a stand mixer to make them?

No, but you definitely need an electric hand mixer if you don’t! I think it would be pretty difficult to achieve the fluffy texture you need with just hand mixing. But maybe you are stronger than me!

Can I use unsalted butter for these?

You could but I recommend using salted butter as it is already perfectly seasoned throughout. Since this cookie has very few ingredients, this is one of the few times I recommend using salted butter instead of unsalted. Usually, I prefer unsalted because you can control the level of seasoning yourself. If you did use unsalted butter, I would add 1 tsp kosher salt.

Do I need to use cherries on top?

No, those are totally optional! I like the festive touch they add but you could do them plain, or go crazy with sprinkles. Just be gentle with toppings as you don’t want to press out any of the air you’ve built up in the dough.

Can I halve the recipe?

Absolutely. This makes about 6 dozen small cookies. All of the measurements are easily halved, so go right ahead. The cookies do freeze well if you want to make the full batch and save some for future you.

Can I pipe these cookies, or use a cookie press?

Maybe? I actually am not confident in this answer so do let me know if you experiment with them! I personally think they are cute and charming as little imperfect blobs.

My cookies are falling apart when I touch them!

Be patient with letting them cool. Honestly, even the first day they can be pretty delicate. Once they are fully cooled the cookies are much easier to handle. I prefer to store them in the fridge (or winter garage which is basically a fridge) because I like them cold, but that also helps keep them firm.

How should I store the cookies?

I prefer the shortbreads cold but they keep well on the counter as well. I like to line my container with wax paper and place a piece of wax paper between each layer of cookies. I find the wax paper protects the cookies if they get moved around at all, and it’s not rough on them so they stay intact better. These also keep well in the freezer.

Counter/room temperature: 4 weeks in an airtight container
Fridge: 4-6 weeks in an airtight container
Freezer: up to 3 months

This recipe makes about 6 dozen small cookies. You can halve it easily if you want less.

1 - 1.5 hour total prep and bake time

Ingredients:

1 lb or 454g of salted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup icing sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

6-8 Maraschino cherries (if desired)

Method:

Cream together the butter, cornstarch and icing sugar for 1-2 mins until well combined using a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed.
Scrape down the sides and add in flour. Start on a low setting until the flour is incorporated and then turn up to medium-high speed for 15 mins. The mixture should almost double in size and look fluffy and cloud like.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (TIP: I prefer to use two cookie sheets so I can put one tray in as soon as the other comes out)
Dice maraschino cherries into 6ths and pat dry with a paper towel.
Drop 1 heaping teaspoon worth of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. Place cookies 1 inch apart. Try not to disturb the cookie dough too much as you don’t want it to lose air.
Place a piece of cherry on top of each cookie and gently push it into place.
Bake for 10 mins until the bottom is lightly golden. The top of the cookie should not colour much.
Allow to cool on the sheet for 1-2 mins before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies are very fragile until fully cooled - it takes 30-45 mins for them to fully firm up.
Repeat until all of the cookies are baked.
Store cookies in a container lined with wax paper on the counter or in the fridge (I personally love them cold!)

Mocha Almond Cookies (Gluten Free)

June 02, 2019 in Recipe, Dessert

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These cookies are like if a brownie and an almond cookie had a baby. Not too sweet, more cake-y than cookie, they are a quick and easy (+gluten free) dessert. I have a sincere love/hate relationship with baking. The precision of traditional recipes can sometimes be too much for my patience. What if I forgot to leave the butter out and it’s not room temperature? Soften in the microwave for a touch too long and your butter is melted, ruining any chance of a fluffy cream with the sugar. This recipe is designed to be fool proof. Even when I shot these photos I forgot the cocoa powder and had to add it at the end. All was well. That’s my kind of baking!

30 mins

Yields: 12-15 cookies

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups almond flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp instant coffee

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup natural almond butter

1 egg

⅓ cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare a cookie sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (almond flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking powder, kosher salt). Set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl add the semi-sweet chocolate chips, butter and almond butter. Microwave on medium-high in 45 second increments (likely only need 2) until the chocolate chips and butter melt.
- Stir in between to combine - it may look like the chocolate isn’t fully melted but when you stir they may melt into the heat. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 mins.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the egg, sugar and vanilla until combined.
Pour your melted butter/chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, and stir until smooth.
Add your dry ingredients and fold in until everything is well incorporated.
Scoop 1.5 tbsp portions and roll each into a ball. Place onto prepared cookie sheet and press down with three fingers to slightly flatten. Cookies won’t spread much but leave 1 inch in between.
Repeat for 12-15 cookies.
If desired, top cookies with flaky sea salt or a little extra kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes.
Allow to cool on the sheet - enjoy!