Those who know me well know that I have a penchant for anything chocolate orange. I just love the combination. So, I had to infuse my favourite chewy chocolate cookies with orange zest one day – and damn, it tastes really fine! For those who are not so fond of this combo: Omit the orange zest and play with any kinds of chocolate chips, nuts and spices to create your dream chewy chocolate chip cookie!
110g butter, at room temperature
120g sugar
40g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp sugar beet syrup
a grating of orange zest
1 egg
210g flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
130g dark chocolate chips
25g cocoa nibs (optional)
50g candied orange peel
Makes 12 • Prep: 20 min • Oven: 12 min per batch
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan.
In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla sugar until creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract and the sugar beet syrup, then add the egg and beat again.
Grate a little bit of orange zest into the bowl and mix.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and briefly mix into a dough.
Fold 100g of chocolate chips, the cocoa nibs and candied orange peel through the dough.
Take a tablespoon of dough (weighing approx.. 55g), roll into a ball and put on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Continue with the remaining dough – leaving enough space between the cookies on the baking tray as they will spread.
Sprinkle the dough balls with the remaining chocolate chips, then bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, until the cookies are golden around the edges and still soft in the middle.
Leave the cookies to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes as they will be too soft to move, then put on a wire rack. Grate over a bit more fresh orange zest, then leave to cool completely.
STORAGE: These cookies can be stored in a tin for a week.
