You’ll love these thick and chunky Chocolate Orange Cookies. Big, New York-style cookies filled with orange zest, Terry’s Chocolate Orange and chunks of dark chocolate. There’s no chilling the dough, so they’re ready in under 30 minutes.
Calling all Chocolate Orange lovers 🧡
Soft, chewy and oh-so-thick, these Chocolate Orange Cookies are bursting with chunky chocolate and zesty orange. They’re surprisingly quick and easy to make and they look like they’ve stepped out of a New York bakery.
There’s no chilling the dough, so they’re ready in minutes. If you love all things chocolate orange, this is the recipe for you!
Why you will love this recipe
- They’re thick and chunky (New York-style)
- They’re filled with choc orange chocolate & fresh orange zest
- There’s no chilling the dough
- Ready in 30 minutes!
recipe testing
Last year, I shared my Chocolate Orange Cake recipe with you and it was met with so much love. So many of you fell head over heels with its chocolatey and fruity flavours, so I couldn’t wait to take that magical combo and make it into a chunky cookie.
I took my favourite Double Chocolate Cookie recipe and turned it into all things orange. I added fresh orange zest, a boatload of choc orange chocolate, as well as chunks of dark chocolate.
The result is a deeply rich, cocoa-laden cookie filled with gooey chocolate and zingy orange notes. With a fudgy, brownie-like centre, these cookies are as much a dessert as any piece of cake.
Ingredients you will need
- Unsalted butter: We use cold butter to help prevent the cookies from spreading.
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Plain flour: Or all purpose flour.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend using unsweetened natural cocoa powder, but Dutch processed cocoa will work too.
- Baking soda
- Orange zest: Freshly zested for maximum flavour.
- Terry’s Chocolate Orange: I use Terry’s chocolate orange for these cookies, but you can use any chocolate orange chocolate you like.
- Dark chocolate: Or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped by hand. Or you can use chocolate chips if you prefer.
how to make thick cookies
While most cookie recipes rely on softened butter or melted butter, this recipe calls for cold butter. It helps the cookies not to spread too much in the oven. And it’s the reason you don’t need to chill the dough before baking, but you can still create a chunky cookie.
Another key factor for cookie thickness is the amount of mix-in’s. There are alot of chocolate chunks in this recipe, just like my popular Levain Bakery Cookies. The big pieces of chocolate help prevent the cookies from spreading too much, keeping them thick and lumpy. Perfect!
tips for making perfect cookies
- Weigh your ingredients using a baking scale: I recommend using a scale to measure your flour and cocoa powder. Using cup measurements can result in adding too much flour, which may result in your cookies being dry and crumbly.
- Try using a block of chocolate: Instead of chocolate chips, I prefer to use a block of chocolate that’s been cut by hand. Chocolate chips are designed to keep their shape when baked, whereas regular chocolate will melt – ensuring you get those irresistible pockets of melty chocolate in each bite.
- Do a tester cookie: My recipe has been carefully crafted to create a thick cookie, however, every baker’s kitchen is different. If you’ve had issues with cookies spreading too much in the past, I recommend doing one tester cookie first. If it spreads too much, consider chilling your dough for 30 minutes and trying again.
frequently asked questions
I’ve use chopped up pieces of Terry’s Chocolate Orange in these cookies. You can use any chocolate orange chocolate you can get your hands on. I also use a bar of dark chocolate that I chopped up by hand – it helps make those lovely gooey chocolate puddles, but you can use chocolate chips if you prefer.
Yes. You don’t need to chill the dough, but if you want to make the cookie dough ahead of time you can. I recommend scooping the cookie dough into balls before you chill it for ease. Simply cover the cookie dough balls with plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge. When you’re ready to bake them, let them come back to room temperature before baking or they won’t flatten out in the oven.
Once completely cooled, store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
more chocolate cookies to try
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Let’s Bake
Chocolate Orange Cookies
Thick and chunky New York-style Chocolate Orange Cookies.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, COLD (straight from the fridge), roughly chopped
- 190 grams (1 cup) brown sugar
- 1 large egg, cold
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 40 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest of one large orange, freshly zested
- 150 grams (1 cup) Terry’s Chocolate Orange pieces, roughly chopped
- 75 grams (1/2 cup) dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays or cookie sheets with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add cold butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined and creamy. Add egg. Beat again until combined – but try not to over-mix.
- Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and orange zest and beat on a low speed until soft cookie dough forms.
- Add the Terry’s chocolate orange and dark chocolate chunks and beat briefly on a low speed just until mix-in’s are incorporated into the dough.
- Scoop out cookie dough, roughly 2 tablespoons per cookie, and roll into balls using your hands. Place cookie dough balls on prepared trays, leaving room for the cookies to spread as they bake.
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes. Leave cookies to cool for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. They will appear very soft when fresh from the oven but will firm up as they cool.
Notes
Orange flavour: The orange flavour in these cookies is fairly mild. If you want to bump up the orange flavour, you can add the zest of an extra orange and/or add 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract when you add the egg.
Chocolate: I’ve use chopped up pieces of Terry’s Chocolate Orange in these cookies. You can use any chocolate orange chocolate you can get your hands on. I also use a bar of dark chocolate that I chop up by hand – it helps make those lovely gooey chocolate puddles, but you can use chocolate chips if you prefer.
Cookie thickness: This recipe has been designed to make a thicker cookie. Be sure to measure your flour using a baking scale so you don’t over-measure, otherwise your cookies will be dry and crumbly. If you prefer flatter cookies, add 175 grams (1 and 1/4 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour – 35 grams (1/4 cup) less than the recipe states.
Tester cookie: If you’ve had issues with cookies spreading too much in the past, I recommend doing one tester cookie first. If it spreads too much, consider chilling your dough for 30 minutes and then try again.
Make ahead: To make the cookie dough ahead of time, I recommend scooping the cookie dough into balls, covering them with plastic wrap and popping them in the fridge. When you’re ready to bake them, let the cookie dough balls come back to room temperature before baking – or they won’t flatten out in the oven.
Storage: Keep these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
Donna A Pollock says
Quite delicious and easy to make. What a lovely flavor of Orange in this too.
One of my Favorites ever and your are to die for. They do remain gooey in the centers and a little crispy around the edges. Very nice I needed this recipe for a new cookie to include in my cookie swap so I tried yours and I love them…This one stays in the recipe box…
Jessica Holmes says
Ho wwonderful! Thank you for the lovely feedback Donna!
Danielle Watson says
Amazing 👏😍
I reduced the flour as suggested and they were perfect!
Jessica Holmes says
Brilliant!!
Sana mehdi says
Tried these today. They are absolutely delicious.
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! So glad you liked them!
Amira says
Hello! Is there a specific measurement for the orange zest?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Amira, about 1 tablespoon of orange zest.
Mari says
I simply love these cookies and it’s an absolute winner with kids.
Im just wondering if i can double it?just use same ingredients x2?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Mari, love that you enjoy these ones! Yes, you can. I’d just be careful to measure the flour and cocoa out with a scale, so you don’t overmeasure – otherwise the cookie dough could be a bit dry.
Victoria France says
These are the absolute best cookies ever!
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you love them as much as I do!
Robyn says
Absolutely awesome cookies!! These were SO quick and easy to make (yay for cold ingredients!) and very delicious. I used the lesser amount of flour as suggested and they are perfectly thick cookies. Thanks for the recipe Jess, I will be trying out your other cookies now and definitely making these again 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Brilliant! Love hearing that Robyn!
Aishwarya says
Hi Jessica. Can i skip the egg and use the recipe as is? Will i have the same result still?
Jessica Holmes says
No unfortunately, eggs provide moisture and act as a binding unit. You could perhaps try with an egg substitute but I haven’t tested this myself.
Robyn says
Hi Jessica! These look amazing! Do these types of cookies work fine to freeze dough balls and then bake (bringing to room temp first of course)? Some cookies I have found stay completely in a ball when you bake them after freezing and I wouldn’t want that!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Robyn, yes you can definitely freeze these cookies! Sometimes cookie dough that’s been frozen may not be completely thawed in the middle, which can affect spreading. If you’ve had issues with this in the past, I recommend adding 35 grams (1/4 cup) less flour to your cookie dough. Also consider baking a tester cookie to see how they go. If it doesn’t spread, let the cookies thaw for longer or (worst case) flatten them with your hand before baking. Hope that helps!
Josh says
These were delicious! I put them in the fridge and enjoyed them cold.
Jessica Holmes says
Great idea Josh! I’ll have to try that.