Chocolate Orange Cookies

While I was making Cranberry Orange Cookies (a recipe I got from Elyse), I started to think about other variations I could make and once I had scoffed tasted a couple of the cookies, I realised this recipe was a keeper and I had to make them again.

It was the orange peel in the recipe that got me thinking.

The orange flavour was quite subtle, so I thought it might be worth adding some orange juice to heighten the flavour and well one thing lead to another and I decided to add chocolate too.

I didn't have any chocolate chips left, so I roughly chopped up half a large bar of dark chocolate.

also try - Scottish Flapjack Cookies

Chocolate & Orange Cookies

3 cups Plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
100g butter, softened
100g cream cheese, softened
grated rind of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp orange juice
2 eggs
150g dark cooking chocolate, diced into fairly large chunks

Preheat oven to 180c/350f/gm4

Sieve the flour, baking soda, and salt together, then set aside.

Cream the softened butter, sugar and cream cheese together until light and fluffy.

Add the orange juice, zest and vanilla and stir in. Next, add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just mixed in.

Add in half the flour mixture, stir and then add the chocolate chunks, before adding the rest of the flour. Make sure the flour is well combined, but do not over mix.

Place balls of dough (golf ball size) on baking sheets (I baked mine in batches), and squash down just a little. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until just golden around the edges. The cookies will continue to darken once removed from the oven.

Makes 16 cookies