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Orange Shortbread Cookies

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time4 hours 25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack, treat
Cuisine: American, British
Keyword: citrus, crumbly, easy, fruity, seasonal
Servings: 16 cookies
Author: Christen Clark

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp orange zest
  • 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 yolk from 1 large egg
  • 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the chocolate coating

  • 8 ounces dark baking chocolate
  • sea salt

Instructions

Make the cookies:

  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
    Cream the soft butter and sugar together for 3 minutes using a stand mixer or hand mixer.
    Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in the vanilla, yolk, zest and juices, then add the rest of the dry. Mix until the dough just comes together.
    At this point, you could either wrap the dough in plastic and keep it refrigerated for up to 2 days, or you could immediately roll it out and cut into cookies.
    When you are ready to make cookies, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. You could cut them into any shape you prefer. To create the orange slices, use a 2 1/2 and a 3 inch biscuit cutter. Cut the cookies with the 3 inch cutter, then use the smaller cutter to make an impression, but no go all the way through to create the look of an orange rind. Use a paring knife to create the triangular wedges, but don't cut all the way through the dough.
    Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for about 24 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit on the middle rack The exact time will vary slightly depending the thickness. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

For the chocolate coating:

  • Finely chop the baking chocolate and place in a microwave safe bowl.
    Microwave on high for 15 seconds. Stir the chocolate.
    Microwave for another 15 seconds. Stir.
    Microwave for 10 seconds. At this point, you most likely won't need to heat the chocolate again. It doesn't need to be fully melted when it comes out and you do not want the chocolate to reach a temperature over 90 degrees F. Stir and the remaining chunks will melt into the warm melted chocolate in a few seconds.
    Lay down some wax paper. Dip one edge of the cooled cookies into the chocolate. Hold it up to allow the excess to drip off, then place the cookie on the wax paper. Sprinkle with a tiny pinch of sea salt and let the chocolate set before moving.