Spiced Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies

While the cooking time for these delicious biscuits is very short, only 10 minutes, make sure you allow time to chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour before baking.

Makes 4 dozen                                                                                                                               

Ingredients

225g soft butter or dairy-free margarine
300g coconut sugar; if purchased in a block, grate finely or blitz in the food processor until finely ground
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
zest of 1 orange
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 cup (110g) hazelnut or almond meal
1 cup (120g) quinoa flour
1 1/2 cups (210g) fine brown rice flour
1/2 cup (50g) gluten-free cornflour (corn starch)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
pinch ground cloves
250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped 

     

      Method

      In a large bowl cream the butter, grated coconut sugar and salt with an electric beater, until light and fluffy. 

Add the orange zest and mix, then gradually add the egg, a little bit at a time. Whisking well between additions. 
      
      Add the hazelnut or almond meal, and sift over the remaining flours and spices. Mix to form a soft dough. Stir through the chopped chocolate and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F and grease trays (this makes many, so depending on how many you want to cook off at once you will need a few trays or rotate them).

Roll mixture into tablespoon sized balls, flatten slightly and place on the trays. The mixture is quite sticky so just dust your hands with extra rice flour if needed.

Bake trays for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

The cookie dough will keep in a covered container in the fridge for up to 1 week,  you can therefore bake off little batches at a time. 



Image and (adapted) recipe from My Darling Lemon Thyme by Emma Galloway