Sweet and salty slice and bake-style chocolate orange shortbread cookies based on Alison Roman’s famous riff on chocolate chip cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
This is a brief summary of the recipe. Jump to the recipe to get the full details.
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
13 minutes
Chilling Time
2 hours
Total Time
2 hours 43 minutes
Servings
24 cookies
Difficulty
Easy—mix, chill, slice, bake.
Calories *
192 kcal per serving
Technique
Cream dough, fold in chocolate and zest, chill logs, slice, bake, and dip in chocolate.
Flavor Profile
Buttery, crisp shortbread with bright orange zest, rich chocolate chunks, and flaky salt.
* Based on nutrition panel
I made these for Christmas. By far, they were the fanciest! […] they kept very well for a week and the orange flavor was more pronounced as they aged. These are a new favorite! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Linda
Table of Contents
Honestly, you don’t need to make any other cookie — these slice and bake chocolate orange shortbread cookies should be your go-to, now and forevermore. Made with salted butter, citrus zest and chunks of semisweet chocolate in a buttery shortbread dough, I dare you — DARE YOU — to eat just one at a time.
You guys, I know I say this a lot, but when it comes to these cookies? I think we can just stop here. I’ve reached full cookie potential with these BBs.
Because when you combine the flavors of sea salt, chocolate, orange and a buttery shortbread cookie, it’s the closest thing to dessert perfection, in my book. And we have one person to thank for it all.
Tips for the Best Shortbread Cookies
Shortbread can sometimes be a finicky dough to work with, since it’s lacking in eggs for added binding. Nevertheless, it becomes less tricky with practice, and with these tips you’ll be on your way to cookie bliss in no time:
1. Be sure to incorporate the ingredients completely. Scrape the sides of the bowl after adding in each ingredient so everything gets mixed together evenly.
2. Don’t skimp on chilling the dough! Two hours minimum is absolutely necessary for these cookies to bake right.
3. Make sure to use a very sharp serrated knife to cut the log into slices, and use a gentle sawing motion when you hit a large chunk of chocolate. If the dough crumbles slightly after slicing, just gently press it back together into a round before baking and it should come together in the oven.
How to Make Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies
Ever since I heard of these cookies, I knew I had to make them. But here’s the thing — for whatever reason, I was attracted to the idea of adding a citrus flair to the cookies. Maybe it’s because I’ve made chocolate orange mousse before and it’s kind of AMAZING, so I knew it could only be an upgrade here. In any case, I went that route, and I have zero regrets. I also like to think it sets this recipe apart from the legions of others out there.
So here’s the situation: You start with a salted butter-based shortbread dough (yes, please go out and buy salted butter just for this recipe — you won’t be sorry, I promise times infinity). You stir in the chocolate chunks (use a bar of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate here and chop it up into larger, coarse pieces. No thin shards of chocolate or, heaven forbid, chocolate chips allowed). Add in a couple tablespoons of fresh orange zest, roll the dough into logs, let them chill until really set, then slice and bake.
And if that wasn’t enough, let’s go ahead and dip them in chocolate and top them with sea salt and more orange zest, shall we? WE SHALL.
All right, my friends — it’s time for you to make The Cookies, GVD-style. I hope you love them as much as I do (because, like, I really, really do).
The Story Behind ‘The Cookies’
That person is Alison Roman whom, if you have any connection to the food world, you’ve probably heard of before. She’s the star behind the cookbook Dining In, and she’s also the person who invented The Cookies — which is what started me down this tasty road of cookie tinkering until I developed my own riff on her famous treat. And so, here we are.
If you’ve never heard of The Cookies, just Google it and you’ll instantly be bombarded with scroll after scroll of recipes and photos of Roman’s game-changing dessert. It’s her take on the chocolate chip cookie — a classic that she says is “deeply flawed” — with a shortbread base, decadent chocolate chunks and the intriguing use of salted butter (she says it gives the cookie a better depth of flavor, and I have to agree).
Recommended Christmas Cookie Recipes
Christmas Recipes
Cookie Recipes
Cookie Recipes
Cookie Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 18 tablespoons salted butter, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons, or 2 ¼ sticks cold salted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided
- Zest of 1 medium orange, about 2 tablespoons
- Flaky sea salt and more orange zest, for topping (optional, but highly recommended)
Instructions
- In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugars and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Scrape down sides of the bowl, then stir in flour on low speed until just combined. Stir in 6 ounces chocolate chunks and 2 tablespoons orange zest until just incorporated.
- Divide dough in half. Place each half on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Fold over plastic wrap to cover dough, then use your hands to roll each piece of dough into a log about 2-2 1/4 inches in diameter. Wrap dough in plastic wrap to cover completely and chill at least 2 hours until firm (can be chilled up to 1 week).
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Uncover one log and, using a sharp serrated knife, gently slice log into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (use a sawing motion to cut through chocolate chunks). Place cut side-up on prepared cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
- Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until edges of cookies are just beginning to brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with second log of dough.
- Melt remaining 6 ounces semisweet chocolate in microwave or in a double boiler according to package directions. Dip one end of each fully cooled cookie into melted chocolate; let excess chocolate drip off, then place cookie on cooling rack. Sprinkle with more sea salt and orange zest, if desired. Chill dipped cookies in fridge 30 minutes until chocolate is set.
- Store cookies in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Notes
Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Technique:
Slice with a gentle sawing motion to preserve those big chocolate shards and keep the logs from crumbling. Variation:
Swap the orange zest for lemon, or roll the logs in coarse sugar before chilling for extra sparkle and crunch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
This looks so good! I love the flavor combination of chocolate and orange, but have never tried it in a cookie!
I attempted this recipe, converting it the measurements to metric first, since I’m used to baking with a scale. Unfortunately it didn’t quite work! 2 and 1/4 cups flour, converted to metric, would be 280 grams, but the resulting cookies spread way too much – I suspect more flour was needed. However, they tasted great even if they didn’t look so good (and the house smelled amazing when they were baking)! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Your photos are lovely!
Hi love the chocolate combo with the shortbread . They would make a wonderful gift also.
Is a stick of butter around 125g or just under 4 ozs. I’m from Australia and we use metric measures…
Lindi, one stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, or 4 ounces. So in this case, you’ll need 9 ounces of butter. I hope that helps!
Do you think I could use Terry’s Chocolate Orange for the chunks and dipping …OR would that be too much of a good thing?
Also, has anyone tried adding chopped pistachios to the batter?
Oh dang, Eljer! That is a great idea. I love Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Maybe use it for either the chunks or the dipping that way the flavors will stay in balance? I have not added pistachios to this particular recipe but I have used them in a similar shortbread cookie with the same flavor profile. I think that would be a welcome flavor and textural addition especially with your orange chocolate! ~lindsey
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
This looks so good! Do you use this dough for any other recipes?
I don’t have salted butter, how salt would you suggest to add to the recipe instead?
Megha, You can add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt to the recipe to account for the unsalted butter!
Quoting my husband: “Tell Girl Versus Dough ‘thank you.'” So… thank you! (He says the batter is good too.) Which it is. An elegant take on chocolate chip cookies. Plus, slice and bake, which I love because you can make the dough ahead, chill or freeze, and bake later when you’re ready.
I forgot to say that the recipe worked perfectly for me. The dough was not dry, the cookies are not greasy. They are perfect and delicious. 🙂
Cindy, Thank you so much (both of you! :)). I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe — and I so appreciate the rating!
Seriously loved these and I think I’m addicted!! I did two rolls and I found that cooking them the day after making the dough was better for me bc the dough didn’t loose any moisture and didn’t crumble as much as the roll I left in the fridge for a few days, and also I feel like they held together better when I cut thicker slices of dough. I will def be making these again!!!!!
So i made these as christmas cookies tonight and I was so excited because the recipe sounded so good! I was nervous about the amount of butter the recipe calls for- turns out I was right. I made them exactly how the recipe states. They smelled amazing! But WAY, WAY, WAYYYYY too much butter. They came out looking greasy, the bottoms of the cookies spread out somewhat because this recipe has too much butter. If I made these again I would probably cut the butter to 1 1/4 cups, there is no need for 2+ sticks butter. We never even dipped these in chocolate because it just would have been too much. Not impressed with this recipe- lot’s of work and really not worth it!
Adrianna, So sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work out for you!
Is it possible you accidentally used sticks that were more than the standard 1/2 cup? I ask because you note that you wouldn’t use more than 1 1/4 cup of butter next time… but that’s even more than the recipe actually calls for, which is 1 cup plus 2 TB, which is 2 standard sticks plus 1/4 of another stick. Would be a shame to miss out on the recipe for what I think is a common mistake, especially now that more and more butter is sold in one cup “sticks.”
i made them not having any idea of how it was going to go since I have never ever made cookies before but OMG it turned out super good and delicious and now after eating them I am so full