Bready or Not: White Chocolate Orange Cookies
I have a serious weakness for stuff on clearance. This is especially true of post-holiday sales. I tend to stock up on those half-price bags of candy and then use them for as treats for my son or as baking goodies. Heck, once the wrapper is off, no one can tell I'm using Halloween candy in the middle of the summer! The stuff stays fresh forever--though here in Arizona, the biggest issue is that things melt.
After last Christmas, I bought a Terry's White Chocolate Orange. I have seen the milk chocolate versions for years and always thought they were kinda cool looking. My husband loves citrus and he loves chocolate, so I figured this Orange would be a nice treat for him.
Then suddenly it's late summertime and the stores are starting to stock Halloween candy (and Christmas stuff!) and I still have this Orange in its pretty foil wrapper. I made those candy corn cookies and loved the fresh citrus taste. I got to thinking about that Terry's Orange. What if I modified my white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe and included the Orange? I could tweak it to be like the candy corn cookies in some ways, including a few tablespoons of orange juice and zest, and then add some flour to compensate for the extra liquid.
I gave this blend of two recipes a shot.
The verdict? AWESOMENESS. The recipe creates a unique, very fresh-tasting white chocolate cookie.
Since it's the holidays, it's the time to readily buy a Terry's Orange (you don't need to wait for them to be on clearance, though a good sale never hurts); I imagine the milk chocolate Orange will work just as well in this recipe, and might even make it prettier as it adds more color.
White Chocolate Orange Cookies
Recipe by Beth Cato
Ingredients
1 bag (10 ounces) white chocolate chips
1 Terry's White (or Milk) Chocolate Orange
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup (11 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (more if needed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 orange, zested, with two tablespoons of juice reserved
Steps
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Place 1 cup of white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power in short increments, 20-30 seconds, and stop to stir between passes until the chips blend smoothly. Keep an eye on it! The chocolate will burn very fast. Set the bowl aside to cool.
With another bowl handy, use your fingers to break the Chocolate Orange segments into smaller chunks. (Using a blender is overkill--it pulverizes the chocolate into powder. Which isn't awful, but not ideal, either.)
See? Partially pulverized. A lesson learned. The chunks on top are because I broke it apart by hand.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs until they're creamy. Mix in the melted chips. Add in the tablespoons of orange juice. Stir in flour, baking soda, zest, and cream of tartar. If the mixture seems too wet, add more flour to improve the consistency--you don't want runny dough! Add the remaining chips and Chocolate Orange pieces.
Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to place dough in rounded lumps on cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn very light golden brown. Cool on the sheet for several minutes, then move to a rack to cool.
Makes about 35 cookies using a tablespoon scoop.
ON NOM NOM.
After last Christmas, I bought a Terry's White Chocolate Orange. I have seen the milk chocolate versions for years and always thought they were kinda cool looking. My husband loves citrus and he loves chocolate, so I figured this Orange would be a nice treat for him.
Then suddenly it's late summertime and the stores are starting to stock Halloween candy (and Christmas stuff!) and I still have this Orange in its pretty foil wrapper. I made those candy corn cookies and loved the fresh citrus taste. I got to thinking about that Terry's Orange. What if I modified my white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe and included the Orange? I could tweak it to be like the candy corn cookies in some ways, including a few tablespoons of orange juice and zest, and then add some flour to compensate for the extra liquid.
I gave this blend of two recipes a shot.
The verdict? AWESOMENESS. The recipe creates a unique, very fresh-tasting white chocolate cookie.
Since it's the holidays, it's the time to readily buy a Terry's Orange (you don't need to wait for them to be on clearance, though a good sale never hurts); I imagine the milk chocolate Orange will work just as well in this recipe, and might even make it prettier as it adds more color.
White Chocolate Orange Cookies
Recipe by Beth Cato
Ingredients
1 bag (10 ounces) white chocolate chips
1 Terry's White (or Milk) Chocolate Orange
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup (11 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (more if needed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 orange, zested, with two tablespoons of juice reserved
Steps
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Place 1 cup of white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power in short increments, 20-30 seconds, and stop to stir between passes until the chips blend smoothly. Keep an eye on it! The chocolate will burn very fast. Set the bowl aside to cool.
With another bowl handy, use your fingers to break the Chocolate Orange segments into smaller chunks. (Using a blender is overkill--it pulverizes the chocolate into powder. Which isn't awful, but not ideal, either.)
See? Partially pulverized. A lesson learned. The chunks on top are because I broke it apart by hand.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs until they're creamy. Mix in the melted chips. Add in the tablespoons of orange juice. Stir in flour, baking soda, zest, and cream of tartar. If the mixture seems too wet, add more flour to improve the consistency--you don't want runny dough! Add the remaining chips and Chocolate Orange pieces.
Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to place dough in rounded lumps on cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn very light golden brown. Cool on the sheet for several minutes, then move to a rack to cool.
Makes about 35 cookies using a tablespoon scoop.
ON NOM NOM.