Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies
A couple of times a month, my husband and I head over to have tea with a 92-year old friend. That probably sounds like we’re doing some sort of service for an old person, but that is not at all how it is. This woman is amazing and going there isn’t doing a favor; it is truly visiting a friend. At 92, she is completely independent and totally sharp. She uses a cell phone and a tablet. She watches football. She keeps up with the news and current events. I know plenty of people a third of her age who aren’t in as good a shape either mentally or physically.
Each time we go, I bake something as a treat for our tea. Right before our last visit, I received some Valentine’s Day sprinkles I’d ordered. It started me thinking that older people probably don’t get to celebrate a lot of smaller holidays when they are alone. Hopefully someone will invite them to Christmas and Thanksgiving, but all those other little things? Maybe not so much. No Valentine’s Day chocolate. No shamrock shaped cookies on St. Patrick’s Day. No Easter basket waiting when they wake up.
Clearly, it was time to break open the sprinkles. I chose these chocolate dipped orange shortbread cookies because shortbread is a simple, old fashioned cookie but one that I could decorate for the holiday without making it too sweet.
These cookies are super simple and are made from very few ingredients. They can also take on a whole bunch of different flavors – orange, lemon, even lavender. You can dip them in chocolate, or leave them plain. You can scoop them out or roll them and cut them into a shape. There are tons of possibilities but the results are always the same: a buttery, slightly sweet cookie that goes great with tea and conversation.
Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- zest one orange
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Cut the softened butter into tablespoons and add to the bowl of a mixer. You can also mix these by hand if you don't have a mixer.
- Add the powdered sugar to the butter and mix until thoroughly combined. Always be sure to scrape down the sides.
- Add the vanilla and mix until just incorporated.
- Add the orange zest and orange juice and mix until combined. This has a light orange taste. You can always add zest from an additional orange if you want a stronger flavor.
- Add the flour and mix until completely combined.
- Lightly flour a work surface.
- Place the dough on the floured surface and pat it into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. This will keep the dough from spreading too much when it bakes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees as you approach the end of the chilling time.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
To make shaped cookies
- Lightly flour the work surface.
- Turn out the dough disk onto the surface.
- Lightly flour a rolling pin.
- Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
- Use a cookie cutter to make your shapes.
- Gather up the scraps and re-roll them. Cut again, repeating until you have used as much of the dough as you can.
- Place the cookies on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for about 7 minutes, then rotate the pans (the one on the higher rack goes to the lower and vice-versa).
- Bake an additional 8 minutes until the bottom of the cookies are just golden.
- Let the cookies cool for a minute or so, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
For unshaped cookies
- Use a small scoop or a tablespoon to form a ball of dough.
- Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet.
- Lightly press down on each ball, flattening them out. Be sure that you do not make them too thin; about 1/4 inch is best.
- Bake as instructed above.
Decorating
- Prepare a cool baking tray, lining each one with parchment paper. I just used the trays and paper I baked on.
- Remember that the cookies should be cool before you start dipping them in chocolate.
- Chop up about 12 oz. of semisweet chocolate. You can use a bar or chocolate chips.
- Place the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between heating.
- Hold a cookie by one edge and dip it into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip into the bowl.
- Place the cookie on the prepared tray. If you are using sprinkles, drop them on.
- Repeat until all cookies are done, then put the tray into the fridge until the chocolate is set. That took me about 30 minutes.
