Crunchy Chocolate Orange Cookies

Amarante

Tue, Mar 12 2024, 11:47 am

These were very good. I subbed crystallized ginger for the orange because I love the combination of chocolate and ginger but chocolate and orange is also a classic and delicious combination

The cookbook is quite interesting because it is recipes of the Roman Jews and reflects the melding of Italian, Ashkenazi and Sephardic cooking styles.

CRUNCHY CHOCOLATE ORANGE COOKIES

Excerpt From: Leah Koenig - Portico

MAKES ABOUT 30 COOKIES

In 2010, pastry chef Laura Raccah opened Mondo di Laura, a Roman bakery specializing in American-style cookies with Italian flair. Today her distinctively crisp and full-flavored cookies can be spotted in oversized glass jars in food shops throughout the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood and packaged in supermarkets across the city. While her cookies are not traditionally Jewish, she is a Libyan Jew who was raised in Rome, and it is important to her that everything she bakes is pareve and kosher certified. These crunchy chocolate and orange cookies are inspired by one of my favorite Raccah creations: a biscuit she named Ghilty. The deep chocolate flavor is perfectly offset by the citrus.

1½ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
⅓ cup (80 ml) vegetable oil (such as sunflower)
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
⅓ cup (40 g) confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 packed teaspoon grated orange zest (from about 1 small orange)
2 ounces (57 g) bittersweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
¼ cup (40 g) finely chopped candied orange peel or crystallized ginger

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Add the oil, granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, egg whites, vanilla extract, and orange zest to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and a handheld electric mixer) and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the melted chocolate and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in two stages, beating on medium speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until you have a thick batter. Add the chopped orange peel and beat to combine.

Pinch off tablespoons of the dough, roll into balls, and place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of space between the cookies. Use your fingertips to press each cookie to flatten it slightly.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets back to front and top to bottom halfway through baking, for 14 to 16 minutes, until the cookies are dry and cracked on top. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer to wire racks to cool. They will continue to firm and crisp up as they cool but will still have a bit of chew at the center.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.