Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cookies with big chunks of orange and dark chocolate in a chewy orange flavoured cookie dough are an incredible treat for all chocolate orange fans.
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I love chocolate orange. Whether it’s a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, a Chocolate Orange Cheesecake, Brownies, Loaf Cake, or orange hot chocolate. I love the flavour combination.
It’s also great for baking with. It’s basically chocolate. If you can make something with either milk or dark chocolate, you can do it with orange chocolate too!
This recipe for chocolate orange cookies is super simple and easy to follow. You have to chill the dough, but there’s very little faffing about and they taste amazing.
They are ideal for baking with the kids, especially at Christmas.
Chewy, filled with massive chunks of chocolate, and gorgeous orange flavour. They are perfect for anyone that likes orange chocolate.
How to Make Chocolate Orange Cookies
So these Chunky Chocolate Orange Cookies have some variables, and then some things that you absolutely need to do. I’ll talk about the variables in a bit. But the musts…
Flour
Don’t use too much flour. This Orange Cookie Dough starts out very sticky, and it can be tempting to add more flour. But, this results in cakey Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cookies, which is fine if that’s what you want. But, if you are after either crunchy or chewy, don’t add extra flour.
Instead, to combat the sticky, I refrigerate my orange cookie dough for at least an hour. Longer is fine, less is not!
I know lots of recipes roll the cookie dough into balls, and then put these in the fridge but that never works for me.
Even after an hour, it’s still pretty sticky, so I use an ice cream scoop to ball up my cookie dough balls.
Mixing
Don’t do too much of it. I use melted butter because it mixes in with the sugar faster. When making cookies you should just mix until everything is combined, and generally, it’s better to undermix slightly, than to over mix.
Baking Paper
Always bake on baking paper (I use this re-usable (affiliate link) and if you bake in batches (I do 6 per tray, and put the dough bake in the fridge until I need it) make sure the tray and paper are cool before you add more cookie dough.
Cookie Dough Spread
Next, the press.
Some cookie recipes spread like mad, others barely spread at all. To an extent, this can depend on your oven, so pay attention. If you press down a lot and they all join together to form one giant Chocolate and orange cookie, maybe bake from balls with no press down next time.
I find that these Chocolate orange cookies spread more than my chewy chocolate chip cookies. So I don’t press them down as much. I think this is because the chunks are much bigger and so heavier.
I do, however, still press into thick (around 0.5-1cm) rounds before I bake.
If your cookies don’t spread at all, you can still press them down a little when they first come out of the oven.
What Kind of Sugar Should You Use to Bake Chocolate Orange Cookies?
I use a mixture of soft light brown sugar and granulated sugar to make my chocolate orange cookies.
I like the texture that you get from this mix, and while I use caster sugar in most bakes, I just think granulated has a better feel in a cookie.
However, use what you’ve got. If you’ve only got caster, just use that, if you haven’t got brown, don’t worry, just increase the white. As long as the weight is the same, give it a go.
Do You Need to Put Orange Flavour in the Cookie Dough?
No, you can absolutely just put chocolate orange chunks in plain cookie dough. I would however replace the orange with 1tsp of vanilla extract.
You can also substitute 30g cocoa for 30g flour, either with or without the orange flavour for Chocolate orange cookies with cocoa powder. Or, skip the dark chocolate chunks and add more orange (like I said, variables!).
Orange cookies are yum though. I use 1tsp orange, but you could add 2 if you wanted more flavour, and compensate with 1tbsp more flour.
Can You Use Orange Extract for Chocolate Orange Cookies?
I always use orange extract for my Chocolate orange cookies recipe.
You can make Chocolate orange cookies with fresh orange juice if you have it, but you will need more juice than extract, which has a stronger flavour. So experiment with reducing the butter and increasing the flour to get the texture right.
Chocolate Orange Cookies with Orange extract are super easy, and orange extract has a good flavour. I use a supermarket own Sicilian orange extract, which is quite a strong flavour, so you don’t need to add too much.
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chunky chocolate cookies are my favourite. Yes, we make chocolate chip cookies too, but I love making chewy cookies with massive chunks of real chocolate. I especially like eating them fresh from the oven when the chocolate is runny. Gorgeous. Just be careful, many a time I’ve burned my tongue too eager to eat my cookies!
If you prefer you could make Chocolate orange chip cookies, just break your chocolate orange up smaller, and add milk or dark chips instead of chunks.
Chewy Cookies or Crispy Cookies?
I like my Chocolate chunk cookies nice and soft. I don’t mind a bit of a crisp around the edges, but I like a nice chewy centre.
If you prefer a crunchy cookie, press them down a little more, or bake for a little longer.
I take my chocolate orange cookies out of the oven when the edge is just hard, and the centre still looks quite underdone. They firm up as they cool, and the texture is amazing. It’s totally personal preference though.
Chocolate Orange Cookie Recipe
Chocolate Orange Cookies
Ingredients
- 150 g Butter or Margarine (Melted)
- 150 g Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 100 g Granulated Sugar
- 1 Medium Egg
- 2 tablespoon Golden Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Orange Extract
- 325 g Plain Flour
- 1.5 teaspoon Bi-carbonated Soda
- 100 g Dark Chocolate (Broken up into chunks – uneven sizes are fine)
- 157 g Terry’s Chocolate Orange (Broken up into chunks)
Instructions
- Grease and line 2 baking trays.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, this only takes a minute with an electric whisk.
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg, syrup, and orange extract.
- Add the egg mix to the butter and sugar and mix for 2 minutes until well combined.
- Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and soft.
- Stir in the chunks of chocolate orange and dark chocolate carefully until evenly distributed.
- Cover the dough and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan-assisted) and remove the dough from the fridge.
- Divide into 20 equal balls and place on baking trays (I do 6 per tray, and bake in 2 batches, leaving the leftover dough in the fridge until I need it).
- Press down into rounds that are around 5mm – 1cm thick.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- 157g is a standard Terry’s Chocolate Orange, if you are using stores own, or mini segments, rounding to 150g is fine.
- For more cookie tips see my chewy chocolate chip cookie post.
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
Love your chocolate orange cookies I’ve baked them lots of times now favourite new cookie recipe
Just got a batch of chocolate chip ones in now thank you so much
Thanks for letting me know, I’m so glad you like them!