Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These luscious Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies are thin, chewy, and totally delicious. If you’re looking for a cookie to satisfy that chocolate orange craving, these are the cookies for you!

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Who else loved those orange flavored chocolate oranges as a kid?! You know, the ones that are – for whatever reason – popular at Christmas time. I’m going to go ahead and say those little, smack-able oranges are the sole reason I’m such a fan of chocolate orange flavored desserts as an adult. Orange chocolate bars, orange brownies, orange chocolate cupcakes (coming soon!) – I’ll take them all!

These cookies are the perfect mash up of orange and chocolate. Dark chocolate cookies (thanks to the wonderfully rich Dutched cocoa) with pools of melted dark chocolate chunks and tons of fresh orange zest. For me, the orange zest adds just enough flavor without being overwhelming. And then I added more on top of each cookie because just look how pretty it is!

This cookie dough comes together like any other standard dough – mix wet, then dry, and stir it all together with a big spoon. There’s no refrigeration required (woo hoo!), so you’re only minutes away from delicious and rich orange chocolate cookies!

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Vegan butter keeps these cookies tasting like regular, butter-filled cookies! If you’d like, you can replace it with solid coconut oil (either refined, which is flavorless, or unrefined). Tip: if using coconut oil and it’s liquid, you can place it in the refrigerator until it solidifies.

Coconut sugar is my go-to sugar for baked goods. It’s low GI, unrefined, and tastes nothing like coconut! It’s a bit better for us than regular white sugar, so I like to use it whenever I can.

Brown sugar lends moisture and sweetness to these cookies. With the added molasses in brown sugar, these cookies come out wonderfully chewy.

Dutch process cocoa powder is richer in flavor and darker in color than regular cocoa powder. The chocolate flavor is heightened with this kind of cocoa powder, but if you’re having a hard time finding it at your local store, you can use natural (regular) cocoa powder. Tip: Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa has been reformulated to contain 100% Dutched cocoa.

Dark chocolate chunks (chopped from a chocolate bar) create those wonderful melty pools of chocolate! Chocolate chips or chunks from a bag are made to keep their shape, so if you want the melty pools then go for the chopped chocolate! Tip: Trader Joe’s sells 1 pound bars of dairy-free dark and semi-sweet chocolate for $5 – perfect for baking!

More orange recipes:

Orange Loaf with Almond Buttercream (dairy-free + vegan option)

Grain-Free Orange Brownies (dairy-free)

Soft & Chewy Orange Sugar Cookies (dairy-free)

Glazed Orange Almond Muffins (dairy-free + vegan option)

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Yield: 20 Cookies

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Print

The perfect dark chocolate cookies, loaded with dark chocolate chunks and lots of fresh orange zest! Crispy at the edges and chewy in the middle, these rich, citrus-y cookies make for a delicious chocolate treat!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened (or solid coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 6 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 large egg, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup chopped dairy-free dark chocolate or chocolate chips
• Zest of 2 large oranges (+ extra for topping, if desired)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the vegan butter and sugars. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until uniform in color. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to mix until nearly combined. Stir in 1 cup of the chopped chocolate and the orange zest.
4. Scoop dough balls 1.5 Tbsp in size. Top each dough ball with extra chopped chocolate (you should have 1/4 cup remaining for this purpose). Bake 6-8 cookies at a time at 350°F for 5-7 minutes.
5. Top the baked cookies with more orange zest (optional) and enjoy warm OR allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet (since these cookies are thin + have pools of chocolate, they do not transfer well to a cooling rack). If you need to use the baking sheet again, I recommend waiting 5 minutes and then carefully lifting the entire piece of parchment paper (with the cookies still on it) to another surface to cool. Be sure your baking sheet is cool before re-using for more dough balls.
6. Store leftovers (once completely cool - when the chocolate pools are set) in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

For vegan cookies: replace the egg with 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 Tbsp water, mix and allow to thicken for 5 minutes)

Recommended Products

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• 
  Cookie Baking Sheets
• 
  Small Cookie Scoop, 1.5 Tbsp
• 
  Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 134mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g

calculated nutrition information may not always be accurate

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