Chocolate Orange Chunk Cookies

I have had chocolate orange cookies on my mind ever since my page-a-day calendar had a recipe for non-chocolate cookies with orange zest in them.  You know those Terry's Chocolate Orange Balls, right?  They're the candy that are shaped like an orange and when you whack it on the table, it magically separates into segments of orange-flavored chocolate that are molded to look like orange wedges.  This recipe is for their cookie equivalent, sans whacking. 

The cookies have a bold chocolate and orange flavor and a pleasant soft center.  When you hit a nice, big chocolate chunk, life seems perfect.  I brought these with us when we went to Pennsylvania for my cousin's high school musical.  I know I might be a tad biased, but he was by far the most exciting person to watch on stage and the best cowboy ever!  These cookies are worthy of the spotlight, just like his performance.  I think you'll love them.  

Notes:
I started with really soft butter when I made these cookies, and as a result, they spread out when they baked.  If you want a thicker cookie, start with butter that is not overly soft, or chill the cookies before you bake them.  If you want a flatter cookie, use butter that is soft, but not melted, and don't refrigerate the dough before you bake it.  If you don't have black cocoa powder, you can replace it with regular cocoa powder. My "regular" cocoa powder is Natural High Fat Cocoa from Penzeys Spices, and the black cocoa powder is from King Arthur Flour. The black cocoa powder intensifies the chocolate flavor and makes the cookies black.  The oranges that I used were the size of baseballs.  If your oranges are larger, use a bit less zest.  Also, if your oranges are heavily waxed, place them in a pan of boiling water and simmer for a few minutes to melt the wax off.  Dry them well before zesting.  I prefer to use organic citrus for recipes that use zest. 

These cookies are an orange variation of the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies that I made for Scott's Peace Corps reunion. 

Ingredients:
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder, sifted
3 tablespoons black cocoa powder, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ teaspoon orange extract
zest of 2 baseball-sized oranges
2 cups (12 ounces) dark chocolate chips or chunks

Yields about 3 dozen cookies, depending on the size

Mix, Shape, Bake:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, sifted cocoa powders, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter with both types of sugar.  Add the egg, vanilla, orange extract, and orange zest, and beat until incorporated.  Add the flour mixture in halves to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to shape the dough into tablespoon-sized balls.  Place each ball on the prepared cookie sheets with two-inch spacing. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are set.  Remove the sheet from the oven, allow the cookies to rest on the sheet for 5 minutes or so, and then transfer the cookies to racks to finish cooling.  Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Thank you, Nookie Monster for signing my baseball!

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