Salted dark chocolate orange cookies; orange-scented cookies with generous chunks of smooth dark chocolate and a pinch of citrus-spiked salt.
I love a supermarket. Not for the activity of carrying heavy bags back to the flat after a big weekly shop, but for the endless possibility of a “what will I bake this week?” shop.
That said, it can be overwhelming, over-stimulating, or can lead to buying too many things that don’t actually inspire me that much by the time it comes to creating something. For that reason, sometimes there’s nothing better than finding a particular or unusual ingredient hiding in the back of a cupboard. Somehow the satisfaction of something turning out nicely as a result of that is much greater than an intentional grocery haul.
In this case, the ingredient was a jar of salt infused with dried Sicilian orange zest found in the back of my other half’s cupboard. Not exactly a run-of-the-mill ingredient by any means, which is precisely what brought this recipe to mind. I grabbed a bag of my favourite baking chocolates on my way back from running some errands, and rolled my sleeves up.
Salted dark chocolate orange cookies. A soft and chewy cookie fragranced with seasonal late-winter orange zest. Chunks of smooth and fruity 64% dark chocolate. Sprinkles of sweet-yet-savoury salt spiked with citrus.
These offer everything you want from a big bakery-style cookie, with even more flavour. It makes a perfect snack or breakfast on these cold days, providing that wintery combination of chocolate and orange that always go together so well.
The recipe I’m sharing for these salted dark chocolate orange cookies makes a pretty small batch. About 8-12 cookies depending on how big you want to make them. However, you can very easily double or even triple the quantities to make a lot of them instead!
You’ll find this is a great make-ahead recipe too. Ideally the dough for these salted dark chocolate orange cookies should be chilled for at least an hour or two, but is best when chilled overnight or even longer. Make the dough a day or two ahead, then just bake when you want fresh warm gooey cookies.
I don’t imagine everyone has the same jar of (potentially 10 year-old) orange-scented salt lurking in their kitchen. For that reason, some regular flaky salt will do just the trick. Just don’t forget to grate over a bit of extra orange zest too!
Want to save these salted dark chocolate orange cookies for later? You can pin the image below:
To make these salted dark chocolate orange cookies, simply follow the recipe below:
Salted Dark Chocolate Orange Cookies (small batch!)
Ingredients
- 75g (5 tbsp) softened butter
- 50g (¼ cup) soft brown sugar
- 50g (¼ cup) caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 140g (1 cup) plain flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp salt, plus extra for sprinkling on top (I used an orange-flavoured salt)
- 125g (4 oz) milk or dark chocolate chunks (I used Valrhona 64% dark chocolate)
Instructions
- Line 1-2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until combined into a wet-sand-like mixture.
- Add the egg, orange zest, and vanilla, beating thoroughly until well incorporated.
- Tip the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in and stir until you have a smooth dough.
- Mix in the chocolate chunks until you have a stiff cookie dough.
- Place the bowl of cookie dough into the fridge to rest and chill for at least 1 hour. Leaving it overnight or for a full 24 hours will produce the best results, but even a few hours will allow a gorgeous texture to develop.
- About 20 minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven – 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F / gas mark 5.
- Once chilled, roll small chunks of the dough and space them out generously on your prepared trays. You should get 8-12 balls of dough from the mixture. (Feel free to add an extra chunk of chocolate on top to make them extra appealing once baked!)
- Bake the dough balls in batches on their trays for 10-14 minutes until just golden brown at the edges, and looking dry on top. Obviously, the larger your cookie dough balls are, the longer they may take to bake.
- Add a gentle sprinkling of salt on top of each cookie (and some extra orange zest if you like).
- Cool them on their tray for 10 minutes before cooling completely on wire racks.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not add some chopped almonds or pistachios to the dough before baking?
These salted dark chocolate orange cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days, but are best enjoyed fresh!
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You and your mum are so bonny…. 😍
This recipe was amazing. As are all of your recipes! I have been following you for years and diligently working through your archives, one recipe at a time. I look forward to each new post and know I can always count on it to be spectacular. Thank you so much for all your efforts, they are appreciated!!!