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Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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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)
Yield: 20 Cookies

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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)

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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

© Rachael
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

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Vegan Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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A delicious, plant-based cookie loaded with dark chocolate chunks? I’m so in. These cookies are undetectably vegan, which means they’re good. It took me a few attempts to nail a vegan cookie that is thick, soft, and delicious. I found vegan butter to lend too much of a flavor I wasn’t fond of, and a cookie with all coconut oil was a little crispier than I wanted. But with a mix of olive oil and a bit of coconut oil, the texture of these cookies is perfect!

This recipe calls for two kinds of sugar to make them a little on the healthier side (as coconut sugar is less likely to spike your blood sugar as high as white sugar, honey, or maple syrup). I added a bit of brown sugar to add moisture and flavor to these cookies. The molasses in the brown sugar adds so much to these cookies!

The dough requires no refrigeration (hello, quick cookies!!), but I found that it was best to let the dough balls rest for a few minutes after hand rolling them. This allowed the coconut oil (which melts in our hands) to re-solidify a bit before baking, creating a more even bake amongst all the cookies. But if you’re using a cookie scoop instead of the scoop and roll method, you can bake these babies right away! Just preheat your oven at the start of your mixing.

Some of the ingredients I love for this recipe:

Coconut sugar is my favorite, go-to sweetener. It’s unrefined and low glycemic index. It tastes nothing like coconut and makes for a great 1:1 substitute for white sugar.

Brown sugar brings moisture (through the molasses) and flavor to these cookies. I highly recommend using light or dark brown sugar. Brown sugar has more molasses, which means more moisture.

Flaxseed meal mixed with water creates a great egg substitute.

Olive oil adds moisture and softness to these cookies. For a lighter taste, feel free to use light olive oil.

Coconut oil adds moisture and a bit of crunch to the outside of the baked cookies. Since there is so little in this recipe, the taste is unnoticeable, but you can use refined coconut oil to make sure there is absolutely no coconut taste.

Arrowroot starch adds to the chew factor in these cookies. Feel free to use corn starch instead.

Yield: 12 Cookies

Vegan Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Vegan Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Classic Chocolate Chunk Cookies made vegan using a blend of olive and coconut oil and flaxseed meal. Delicious and packed with lots of chocolate, these cookies will please both vegans and non vegans alike!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Prepare your flax egg using lukewarm water and allow to thicken for around 5 minutes.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the liquid coconut oil and olive oil. Whisk in the coconut sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Finally, whisk in the flax egg until all ingredients are totally combined - it may take a minute for the oil and water to mix together; set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, arrowroot starch, and salt. Add in the liquid ingredients and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to mix until nearly combined. Add 1/2 cup of the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and mix. The dough will be oily, so it's normal for the chocolate to fall away from the dough.
  4. Scoop dough balls 2 Tbsp in size. Press and roll each dough ball smooth, placing pieces of extra chocolate into the tops of each one and reshaping as necessary. Place all of the dough balls onto one parchment-lined baking sheet and allow to rest at room temperature while you preheat your oven to 350°F. This gives the coconut oil a chance to solidify a bit (evenly) across all dough balls.
  5. Bake dough balls 6 at a time at 350°F for 7 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake them! Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt flakes, and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Let your baking sheet cool to room temperature before baking another batch.
  6. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

If you prefer to use only a cookie scoop instead of the scoop and roll method, your cookie dough balls won't need to rest as long. Feel free to bake them right away!

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© Rachael Ng | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

Other vegan dessert recipes you might like:

Vegan Chocolate Flax Cookies
Chocolate Chip Muffins (vegan option)
Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake Donuts
Vegan Tahini No-Bake Cookies