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Vegan Chocolate-Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

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These Orange Shortbread Cookies are flaky, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth goodness! I really wanted to utilize orange + chocolate again this season, because it’s one of my favorite dessert combos. An orange flavored chocolate shortbread cookie came to mind, but then I decided to leave out the cocoa powder and dip the baked cookies in dark chocolate instead! I love the mix of the light cookie with the rich dark chocolate!

My first few attempts at re-creating multiple shortbread recipes with coconut sugar weren’t my favorite. Coconut sugar is so much darker than regular can sugar, and the larger granules don’t lend a good hand to such a delicate shortbread cookie. I ended up using powdered sugar, which is what the original recipe from Epicurious calls for. I don’t find these cookies to be overly sweet, and my favorite part about them is how versatile the dough can be. Leave out the almond extract, replace the orange for lemon, etc – do your thing!

I think these cookies bake best with a thicker cut cookie, and the edges may spread a tiny bit. As soon as my cookies came out of the oven, I carefully (and slowly!) re-cut each one with my cookie cutter to clean the edges up a bit. In other words, don’t expect these cookies to come out looking super sharp. They’re packed full of delicious coconut oil, so they’re bound to spread a bit! As always, happy baking, friends!

Vegan Chocolate-Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies
Makes ~15 cookies, depending on cookie cutter size

1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
Zest from one medium orange
1/8 tsp almond extract
Pinch of fine sea salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
2oz dairy-free dark chocolate
1 tsp coconut oil, solid

1.) In a medium bowl, beat the solid coconut oil until smooth and a bit fluffy, around 5 minutes. Using a big wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the orange zest, almond extract, and salt. Sift in the powdered sugar and corn starch and mix with a spoon. Add the almond milk and stir until dough comes together. It will be crumbly. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic and flatten to a disc shape. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2.) Roll your dough between two pieces of parchment paper to 1/4″ or 1/2″ thick, depending on how thick you like your cookies. Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes (I used a 2″ circle), dipping your cutter in flour before each cut (I recommend a non-complicated shape, as you may have to re-cut the cookies post-bake). Gently move the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet and re-roll leftover dough, cutting more shapes. Once all your cookies are transferred to the baking sheet, freeze them for 10 minutes.

3.) Preheat your oven to 325°F. Bake the frozen cookies at 325°F for 10 minutes. If the edges of your baked cookies look messy, carefully re-cut the cookies with your cutter. It’s important to be extra gentle with this step, because these cookies are quite delicate. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

4.) Once cookies have cooled completely, use a knife to shave your chocolate (make small cuts along the edge). Melt half of the chocolate shavings in 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring between each set. Once melted, add the second half of your chocolate shavings and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Add 1 tsp of solid coconut oil, stirring until melted and totally combined.

5.) Line a cooled baking sheet with parchment paper (or re-use the one from earlier). Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate and lay on your baking sheet to set. Immediately zest fresh orange over the chocolate. Alternatively, you can drizzle the chocolate over each cookie or cover your cookies totally by placing them on a cooling rack and pouring the chocolate over each cookie – you will need to melt more chocolate if you choose the pour method. Enjoy! Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Does anyone remember (or still love) those orange flavored chocolate oranges? You know, the ones shaped like an actual orange that you get to “smash” to loosen all the chocolate orange slices. I usually spot them at the store around Christmas time, and I’ll be real, I miss those freaking chocolate oranges. Going dairy-free to keep my skin clear has made me miss foods I didn’t even know I really liked all that well.

Anyways, these cookies are not chocolate oranges, but they are my Dairy-Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies with fresh orange zest, dried cranberries, and lots of chopped semisweet chocolate, and they are good. The orange zest adds a ton of citrus flavor, while the dried cranberries bring a bit of chew and tartness to the sweet and chocolatey cookies. I opted for chopped semisweet chocolate for these, because I like the messy look that you get when chopped chocolate melts into a fresh baked cookie. Chocolate chips would work just fine, too, and dark chocolate would make for an excellent cookie.

The recipe for these cookies is short and sweet. Be sure to use solid coconut oil and a big wooden spoon or spatula to do all the mixing. You don’t want to over-mix your dough or cause the coconut oil to become too soft. It’s normal for this dough to be a bit crumbly and even seem somewhat dry. That’s okay. The dough will easily press together and bake up to make a perfect cookie (with no refrigeration required)! I recommend using a cookie scoop for these cookies, and feel free to play around with the size! Happy baking!

Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes ~25 small cookies

1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped dairy-free chocolate (semisweet or dark)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Zest of one medium orange

1.) Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.) Using a large spatula or wooden spoon, mix together the solid coconut oil and coconut sugar in a medium bowl until combined – I like to mash my coconut oil into the sugar to make sure all the lumps get incorporated. Mix in the egg and then the vanilla and orange zest until totally combined; set aside.

3.) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet (do not beat) until a few flour streaks remain. Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Your dough may look a bit crumbly, depending on how hot/cold the temperature is where you are (the coconut oil may be more or less oily).

4.) Scoop 1 Tbsp dough balls onto your parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 6-7 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temp. Re-heat to enjoy.

Vegan Orange Cranberry Swirl Bread

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Okay, so I love a good cranberry orange bread. You know those giant cran orange muffins at the grocery store? LOVE THOSE. So I made my own, dairy-free version. And then Thanksgiving came around and I really wanted to make a cranberry orange loaf with a cranberry swirl. Talk about festive.

This loaf is easy to get together – seriously, don’t let the homemade cranberry sauce deter you. It’s vegan. And it’s sweetened with just the right amount of coconut sugar – my favorite unrefined, low GI sweetener. For this loaf, you’ll make the cranberry sauce, and then get to work on the easy quick bread batter. If you decide to use fresh squeezed orange juice, zest your oranges before you cut them in half.

When it comes to adding your batter and cranberry sauce to the loaf pan, remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect. That’s what makes this so easy! You’ll just plop spoonfuls of batter and cranberry sauce into the pan and then swirl it all together with a chopstick (or knife). You’ll have way more batter than sauce, so opt for big spoonfuls of batter and little spoonfuls of cranberry sauce. I found that this loaf baked fast for me, so keep that in mind. Happy baking!

Vegan Orange Cranberry Swirl Bread
Makes one 9×5″ loaf

Cranberry Sauce
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp coconut sugar
Zest from one orange
Orange Bread
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal
4 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, room temp
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest from two oranges
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1.) Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray a 9×5″ loaf pan with olive oil. In a small saucepan, make your cranberry sauce by combining fresh cranberries, orange juice, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and orange zest. Cook on medium heat until cranberries have burst (I like to mash mine with a fork along the way) and sauce has thickened a bit. For a less chunky cranberry sauce, blend the sauce in a blender or food processor (I didn’t do this). Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool.

2.) In another small bowl, combine the flaxseed meal, orange juice, and water; set aside to thicken. Grab a medium bowl and stir together the coconut sugar, coconut oil, almond milk, applesauce, vanilla, and orange zest; set aside.

3.) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add all of the liquid ingredients, including the flaxseed meal mixture, and gently mix until no flour pockets remain.

4.) Begin spooning your batter and cranberry sauce into your prepared loaf pan, alternating between the two. You will have much more batter than cranberry sauce, so drop smaller spoonfuls of the cranberry sauce so you don’t run out (I like to make sure I have plenty to spoon onto the top of the loaf). Once you’ve added all of your batter and sauce, use a chopstick or knife to swirl the two together. Be sure you insert your chopstick all the way to the bottom of the pan for a more even swirl.

5.) Bake your loaf at 350°F for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with slight crumbs. Allow your loaf to rest in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Gently remove the loaf by running a knife along the edges, tilting your pan, and using a spatula or knife to shimmy the loaf out, careful not to ruin the pretty swirl on top. Enjoy warm or let cool!

Cranberry Orange Crumb Muffins

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I’ve always loved the big, bakery-style cranberry orange muffins at the grocery store, so when I saw a bag of cranberries in my freezer from last holiday season, I knew I wanted to set out to make my own dairy-free cranberry orange muffins! I topped these ultra fluffy muffins with a cinnamon crumb topping pre-bake and then drizzled the cooled muffins with a delicious, homemade cranberry orange sauce. The crumb topping and drizzle add a sweetness and flavor that you won’t want to miss! The best part is that these toppings are rather simple and made up of ingredients you will already have on hand. I like to use whole wheat pastry flour in my muffins and quick breads because it gives them such a dreamy fluffy texture. If you don’t have WWPF readily available, then all-purpose flour will work just fine. Happy baking!

 

Cranberry Orange Crumb Muffins
Makes 12 regular muffins

Muffins
2 large eggs, room temp
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut milk yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
Zest from two oranges
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (unthawed)
Crumb Topping
1/4 cup flour (whole wheat pastry or all-purpose)
3 Tbsp coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
Cranberry Orange Drizzle (optional)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (unthawed)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2-3 Tbsp honey

1.) Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for ~10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray your muffin pan(s) with olive oil.

2.) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar and eggs. Add the applesauce, yogurt, vanilla extract, orange juice, and orange zest and stir until combined. Mix in the melted coconut oil; set aside.

3.) Make your crumb topping by combining the flour, coconut sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add the melted coconut oil and mix until small crumbs form; set aside.

4.) Stir your fresh or frozen (unthawed!) cranberries into the flour mixture. Pour wet ingredients into dry and fold until no flour pockets remain. Fill your muffin pan all the way to the top and top each muffin with your desired amount of crumb topping – I think that more is better!

5.) Bake your muffins at 350°F for 18-22 min. Let them rest in the pan for 10 minutes before gently removing to a cooling rack to totally cool.

6.) Meanwhile, prepare your sauce/drizzle by adding cranberries, orange juice, and honey to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking until all the cranberries have popped and the liquid has reduced. Taste your sauce and add more orange juice to thin or more honey to sweeten. For a finer consistency, use a food processor or immersion blender to blend (I did not do this). Drizzle sauce over your cooled muffins and top with fresh orange zest. Enjoy!