Welcome to Day 2 of
The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!
Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!
The recipes I’m sharing are small-er batch (perfect for this year when many of us will still be attending/ hosting smaller gatherings) – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim. Check out the treats from 2019 and 2020 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!
It’s beginning to look a lot like …. Actually, scratch that, it’s looking like a dull Autumn day today – rainy and warm (well, 7˚C is warm for December here in Toronto!) – the lovely snow that fell a few days ago has melted and it’s slushy and dirty now. So, while it may not LOOK like Christmas, it certainly feels like its on the way… All those Christmas movies, all those treats on display in stores and a definite feeling of “the holidays are coming” in my classrooms…
When I think of the holidays, there are a few things that come to mind in terms of treats – and at top of mind, I’d say it would be a certain chocolate orange treat that just screams “Holidays”. I remember last year a friend was looking for a stocking stuffer for her husband and it *had* to be a Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Do you think we could find one (a few days before Christmas, ok but still…)? Not for love nor money! It seems many others are fans of the chocolate/ orange combination!
So, like, what if you cannot get your hands on a Terry’s Chocolate Orange?
How about this orange-infused sugar cookie dipped in smooth chocolate? It’s a pretty good substitute! These are thick, soft sugar cookies infused with orange essence, juice and orange zest. And they last a week or so in an airtight container (if you can make them last that long!).
This recipe makes 12 pretty thick (1/3 inch) cookies (2.5 inch/ 6cm) diameter) which I feel like is an acceptable size for the holidays. If you want to make them smaller or thinner you’ll need to adjust the baking time.
Chocolate-dipped orange sugar cookies
Easy orange flavoured chocolate-dipped sugar cookies.
Ingredients
for the cookies:
- zest of 2 clementines or 1 large orange (1 tablespoon)
- 50g (1/4cup) granulated sugar
- 57g (1/4 cup/ 4 tablespoons) salted butter, softened
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure orange extract
- 113g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange or clementine juice
for the chocolate:
- approx. 100g (1/2 cup) chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the cookies
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.
- Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the sugar is orange and moist.
- Mix the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with electric hand beaters at high speed until pale in colour and creamy.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the egg yolk and orange extract, then continue to beat until combined.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the flour and baking powder, mixing until the flour is just combined.
- With the speed still low, add the juice and beat until the dough starts to clump together.
- Gather the dough together with your hands into a disk. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface or in between two large sheets of parchment paper and roll the dough until it’s roughly 1/3-inch thick.
- Use a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut approximately 12 cookies.
- Place the cutout cookies on the prepared baking tray and put it in the freezer while you heat the oven.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350˚F.
- When oven is at temperature, bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes until lightly golden all over.
- Remove from the oven and use an offset spatula to remove the cookies from the trays and place them on wire cooling racks. Allow the cookies to cool completely before you dip them.
Dip the cookies
- Melt the chocolate in a metal or ceramic bowl set over a pot of simmering water or at low power in the microwave (50%) in bursts of 30 seconds until melted.
- Dip the cookies in the chocolate, coating half the cookie.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking tray and continue until all cookies are coated.
- Place tray in fridge for about 30 minutes until the chocolate is set.
Notes
Cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days. Make sure to layer parchment paper in between the cookie layers so they don't stick together.
Recommended Products
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What about you? Do you love that chocolate/ orange combo?
Baking up a storm this holiday season?
(this is an affiliate link, but I genuinely use Nuts.com products and love them. Highly recommended if you are in the US/ Canada where they currently ship)
Check out 2021’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Speculoos financiers
Day 2: Chocolate Dipped Orange Sugar Cookies
Day 3: Madeleines à la Clémentine
Day 4: Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
Day 5: Sunbutter and Jam Chocolate Cups
Day 6: Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Cookies
Day 7: Linzer Cookies
Day 8: Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
Day 9: Choc-Mint Thumbprint Cookies
Day 10: Pailles (Puff Pastry and Jam Cookies)
Day 11: Strawberry Santa Hats
Day 12: Mulled Wine Jam
Check out 2020’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Rice Krispie Wreaths
Day 2: Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Day 3: Peppermint Bark
Day 4: Orangettes
Day 5: Rocky Road Chocolate Crackle Slice
Day 6: Candy Cane Sugar Cookies
Day 7: Orange Pim’s
Day 8: Mendiants
Day 9: Chewy Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies
Day 10: Apricot, Coconut and Cranberry “truffles”
Day 11: Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Brownies
Day 12: Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Check out 2019’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:
Day 1: Easy Three Ingredient Shortbread
Day 2: Jam Drops
Day 3: Chocolate Caramel Slice
Day 4: Melting Moments
Day 5: White Christmas
Day 6: Langues de Chat
Day 7: Chocolate Coconut Slice
Day 8: Cornflake Biscuits
Day 9: Rocky Road
Day 10: Honey Joys
Day 11: Rum Ball Truffles
Day 12: Giant Florentine Cookie (to share)
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