Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies

Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies, delicate, buttery, shortbread pastry flavored with orange and dark chocolate are the perfect cookies for the festive season. Dreamy and delicious they will be the “star” of the show of your holiday gatherings.

Song of the day: O (Fly On) – Coldplay.

Like last year, I was excited to receive an email asking me to participate in a virtual Cookie exchange with fellow food bloggers. It set me in the festive mood and fueled my desire to find a recipe to share that was aesthetically appealing and delectable to eat. It also had to reflect my Italian heritage.

Today I am sharing my Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies as part of  The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange. I’ve joined several food blogger friends to bring you some amazing cookie recipes for the holiday season. It’s a week-long event, running from November 26th to the 30th, so lots of inspiration! Last year I shared my Abbracci, Italian Hugs Cookies. Eager to show you these ones!

Inspiration

Some years ago, when the blogging journey was in the backdrop of our minds and I was still in Rome for the Christmas holidays, I received a recipe booklet called “Biscotti” from one of my friends. (Hint: just a reminder that in Italian “biscotti” is the generic term for any kind of cookies, not only the ones you call, indeed, biscotti, in this side of the world). The booklet is hardcover and magnetic, and in the form of a chocolate cookie. Such a nice little gift! Among the recipes that are in the booklet, I fell in love with the shape and the flavors of these Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies. 

Preparation

A delicate and buttery shortbread pastry is flavored with orange juice and zest, then, half of the dough is infused with melted dark chocolate.

Both of the doughs are then wrapped in plastic and set in fridge to rest.

After that time, the preparation of these Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies is a little laborious if you are doing it all yourself (like I did), but it is fun and worth every minute.

I see this, as a family affair. Two work surfaces and a few sets of hands, big and small, to help to roll out the two doughs, cut out the star shapes, and fill the inside of the bigger stars with the smaller stars in the opposite color. A room filled with laughter, joy, and anticipation of the final result.

The Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies are in the oven and the house smells of citrus, vanilla, and chocolate. It seems like you’ve lit one of those scented candles, only no artificial essences suffuse the air, but good, natural ingredients.

I don’t know about you but stars make me feel magical and without boundaries. The difference in colors really make these cookies special and knowing that I made them makes me feel grand.

I have to take a bite. Mmmm is that ever good. I love the combination of orange and chocolate, truly a match made in heaven.

This cookies comes in crisp and just melts and lingers with this smoothness on my tongue. My eyes are closed and I have all these memories floating in my mind.

These Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies remind me of Rome, my city, during the Christmas holidays. Stunning and magical, at night an opulence of lights twinkling, dazzling, welcome you around the city. Streets, squares, churches, monuments, houses, villas, and even the river, they all dress up to bring you a joyful elegance.

Check out The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange. You’ll find hundreds of cookie recipes from this week and the previous several years. All you would want to do is get in the kitchen and start baking!

Song of the day: O (Fly On) – Coldplay.

Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies

★★★★★

4.9 from 17 reviews

• Author: Nicoletta
• Prep Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
• Yield: 50 cookies
• Category: Cookies
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Italian

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Description

Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies, delicate, buttery, shortbread pastry flavored with orange and dark chocolate are the perfect cookies for the festive season. Dreamy and delicious they will be the “star” of the show of your holiday gatherings.

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Ingredients

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 180 g unsalted butter. at room temperature
• 150 g light brown sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• the zest of 1 organic orange
• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 large egg, organic free-range
• 60 g organic dark chocolate, melted

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Over a bain-marie on low heat, melt the dark chocolate.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and the sugar.
4. Always beating, add the vanilla extract, the orange juice and zest, the egg, the sifted flour mix, until a dough forms.
5. Using a scale, divide the dough into two parts, more or less the same weight. Put one of the dough back in the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the melted chocolate and mix to combine.
6. Wrap both doughs in plastic wrap and set in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper, or silicone mats.
8. Take the light dough out of the fridge, leave the other in the fridge. On a floured work surface, and with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 5mm thickness.
9. With the biggest star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out star cookies and place them on 2 baking sheets. Gather all the scraps of dough and re-roll, cutting out star cookies until finished.
10. With the smaller star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the inside of every star cookie that is on the baking sheets. Place them on the board.
11. Take out the chocolate dough from the fridge. Roll it out to the same thickness as the other, cut out the bigger star-shaped cookies and place them on the other baking sheets.
12. With the smaller star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the inside of every chocolate star cookie. Place them inside the light star cookies.
13. Place the small chocolate star inside the light big star until they’re all filled. You might have some leftover small stars, I baked them separately on a small baking sheet.
14. Bake the star cookies in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. I baked two baking sheets at a time.
15. Remove from the oven and let sit in the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes. Then remove from baking sheet and place on a rack to cool completely.

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Notes

Store in an airtight container. I put them in a tin box with a lid. They will last for about a week. I didn’t freeze them (I usually do not freeze cookies) so I don’t know how that works.

The dough is easier to work when it’s cold.

The prep time includes the 1-hour resting time in the fridge.