Buttery Orange Cookies filled with fresh orange zest. These homemade orange biscuits are made using just 5 ingredients and are egg-free. They’re perfect dipped in dark chocolate and served with a cup of tea or coffee.
Orange Cookies for the win 🍊
We’re continuing our citrus bender with our new slice-and-bake Orange Cookies. Made with just five basic ingredients and flavoured with fresh orange zest, they’re surprisingly quick and easy to make.
Akin to shortbread, these crumbly, chewy and buttery cookies are my new favourite thing. And a quick dip in melted dark chocolate makes them bakery-ready.
why you will love this recipe
- Quick and easy: These cookies come together fast and are perfect for beginner bakers.
- Simple ingredients: You only need five basic ingredients.
- Make-ahead: You can easily make these Orange Cookies ahead of time and just slice and bake as needed.
- Egg-free: They’re egg-free!
My 10 year old daughter made these biscuits and they were incredible. Deliciously orangey, chewy, buttery and crisp.
– Lois
recipe testing
After enjoying all things orange with our popular Orange Pound Cake and Chocolate Orange Brownies, I couldn’t wait to add a citrus twist to my favourite bake – cookies!
I could have made them soft and chewy like my Lemon Cookie recipe, but instead, I wanted something hearty and buttery like shortbread.
So I experimented with a basic butter sugar cookie but added oodles of freshly grated orange zest for flavour. My first attempts had too much butter, causing the cookies to spread too much, despite chilling the dough.
Then I had the opposite problem where my cookie dough was too dry and crumbly. Finally, I had the perfect ratio of butter to sugar to flour.
The result? An Orange Cookie that’s easy to slice and bake as needed, with minimal chill time and minimal spreading. The final touch is a dip of dark chocolate for that gorgeous choc orange hit.
ingredients
You only need a handful of ingredients to make these easy Orange Biscuits. Here’s what you will need:
- Butter
- Caster sugar: Or granulated sugar.
- Oranges
- Plain flour: Or all purpose flour.
- Vanilla extract: Or orange extract.
- Dark chocolate: Optional, but highly recommended.
how to make orange cookies
These Orange Shortbread Cookies are so easy to make. The dough comes together in minutes and can be made ahead of time. Here’s how to make them in four simple steps. More detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and orange zest. Mix using an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and combined.
- Add flour and salt and mix until a soft cookie dough forms. Finally, add extra orange zest and vanilla extract, if using.
- Bring dough together to form a long log. Wrap in parchment or baking paper and then chill for 1 hour.
- Slice cookies and place on a baking tray lined with parchment or baking paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden on the edges.
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the chocolate dip
This step of the recipe is entirely optional, but I can highly recommend it. After all, chocolate and orange are a match made in heaven. I love to dip these cookies in dark chocolate – something around 50-70% cocoa.
Pictured here is a 70% block of dark chocolate that I melted in the microwave until smooth and creamy. Each cookie is then dipped in the chocolate and then placed on a baking tray lined with baking or parchment paper to set.
Popping the Orange Cookies in the fridge once they are dipped will help speed up the process. Not only does it add gorgeous chocolate orange flavour, but it makes them look extra special too.
how to store them
Cookie dough: The Orange Cookie dough is designed to be rolled and sliced. You can keep the cookie dough in the fridge and just slice and bake as needed.
Alternatively, you can freeze the cookie dough in a log and again, slice whenever you want a cookie. Just let the cookie dough thaw for 10-15 minutes before baking, or add a few extra minutes to the cooking time if cooking them frozen.
Alternatively, you can roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out different shapes as desired, like you would a cut-out Sugar Cookie. You will still need to chill the dough before baking to prevent spreading.
Baked cookies: Once the cookies are baked, you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container.
If you choose to dip them in chocolate, you can store them in the fridge if you live in a warmer climate.
frequently asked questions
Absolutely. Just swap the orange zest for lemon zest and away you go.
No, they are delicious on their own. But the chocolate does make them extra special!
Yes, you can roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out different shapes as desired, like you would a cut-out Sugar Cookie. You will just need to chill the cookie dough before baking to prevent spreading. I recommend cutting them out first, then chilling.
More orange bakes
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Let’s Bake
Orange Cookie Recipe
Buttery Orange Shortbread Cookies dipped in dark chocolate.
Ingredients
- 230 grams (1 cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- Zest of 3 large oranges, finely grated
- 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or orange extract
- 100 grams (2/3 cup) good quality dark chocolate (50-70% cocoa), for dipping
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and zest of 2 oranges. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth.
- Add flour and salt and beat briefly until a soft cookie dough starts to form. Finally, stir through zest of the final orange and vanilla extract or orange extract, if using. The cookie dough may appear dry and crumbly at first but use a spatula or your hands to bring it together.
- Transfer cookie dough to a large piece of baking paper or parchment paper and use your hands to shape the dough into a long circular log, approximately 12-13 inches long. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.
- 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.
- Use a large sharp knife to slice cookies into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Place cookies on baking trays, leaving room for the cookie to spread slightly.
- Bake cookies for approximately 12-14 minutes or until golden on the edges. Leave cookies to cool completely.
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and heat in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted and smooth. It shouldn’t be hot, if it is, let it cool for a few minutes before dipping.
- Carefully dip each cookie into the chocolate and then place on a baking tray lined with baking or parchment paper. Once all cookies have been dipped, place in the fridge for chocolate to set.
Notes
Vanilla extract: You can use vanilla extract or orange extract in this recipe. Both work really well.
Dark chocolate: You can dip these cookies in any chocolate you prefer. I like to use dark chocolate (between 50-70% cocoa). I used Nestle Plaistowe 70% chocolate in these photos.
Chill time: You need to chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour to prevent spreading. You can then keep the cookie dough in the fridge and just slice and bake as needed. Alternatively, you can freeze the cookie dough in a log and again, slice as needed. Just let the cookie dough thaw for 10-15 minutes before baking, or add a few extra minutes to the cooking time if cooking them frozen.
Cooking time: These cookies will firm up as they cool, but they will still have a chewy centre. If you prefer a crispier cookie, consider slicing them thinner and baking them for a few extra minutes.
Storage: Once the cookies are baked, you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container. If you choose to dip them in chocolate, you can store them in the fridge if you live in a warmer climate.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 cookie Calories: 151 Sugar: 8.3 g Sodium: 24.6 mg Fat: 8.7 g Carbohydrates: 17.3 g Protein: 1.5 g Cholesterol: 19.8 mg
Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.
Grace Gardner says
total flop! I rechecked all of the steps to make sure I didn’t make a HUGE mistake but no I didn’t. 5 min into the bake I looked through the oven glass to see my cookie sheets filled with a sheet of buttery guw. What a disappointment!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Grace, I’m so sorry to hear your cookies spread too much in the oven! What a disappointment. Can I ask how long you chilled the dough for? That really shouldn’t happen!
Alison Hollewand says
I only had one orange (which I wanted to use up), but the cookies still turned out fine, in fact my family preferred a more subtle sense of orange. Thank you from Australia – will be making again.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that Alison!
Lottie says
Can we make these GF or DF? And also is it possible to make with lemons instead of oranges? -Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lottie, you can definitely swap lemon for orange in this recipe. I haven’t tried a GF or DF version unfortunately. I think a GF plain flour that says it can be substituted 1:1 for regular flour should work though! Swapping the butter would be a little bit more tricky.
Lois Ledder says
My 10 year old daughter made these biscuits and they were incredible. Deliciously orangy, chewy, buttery and crisp.
She chilled, then rolled the dough and used a Mickey Mouse cutter before dipping in salted dark chocolate. We will definitely make again!
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Lois! I bet they looked amazing!
Josh says
Super easy and love the orange flavour!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad to hear that Josh!