Spiced Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Vegan)
These irresistibly soft, thick, and festive cookies are perfect for the holiday season. They start with a simple cookie base bursting with orange-infused chocolate chunks (Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate), warm fall spices, homemade mixed citrus candied peel, and a touch of orange zest. Each bite offers a delightful mix of melty orange chocolate, tart candied peel, and subtle hints of cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Not only are they absolutely delicious, but they’re also incredibly easy to make and completely dairy- and egg-free. These cookies are just waiting to make their way onto your holiday baking list.
What you will need:
These cookies are packed with orange chocolate, warm spices, and homemade citrus candied peel. You can find a recipe for mixed citrus candied peel on the website if you’d like to make it yourself. I used Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate, but if it’s hard to find locally, it’s available on Amazon or directly from Chocolove’s site. The rest of the ingredients for this recipe can easily be found at your local grocery store.
Ingredients:
- plant based yogurt -I used Silk Vanilla Almond Milk
- plant based butter with salt – I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon, all spice and cloves
- vanilla extract
- cane sugar – I used Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
- coconut sugar – I used Madhava Organic Coconut Sugar
- orange zest
- citrus candied peel (homemade) – please see recipe on the website
- Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate – you will need two bars
How to:
Start by measuring and chopping the chocolate and candied peel. You will need 105 grams of Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate for the cookie batter, which is slightly more than one bar. Roughly chop the chocolate and set it aside. Chop and reserve a few extra pieces for decorating the tops of the cookies, if desired. You will need 50 grams of citrus candied peel for the cookie batter. Roughly chop it and set it aside. Reserve a few extra candied peel pieces to decorate the tops of the cookies after baking.
In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, all spice and cloves; set the bowl aside. In a medium bowl, beat the room-temperature butter, orange zest, cane sugar, and coconut sugar with a handheld mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture is creamy, fluffy, and fully blended, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the room-temperature yogurt and vanilla extract and mix on medium-high speed for about 1 minute or until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. With the handheld mixer, blend at medium speed until no more flour can be seen. Toss the roughly chopped chocolate and citrus candied peel into the batter and fold until the chocolate and candied peel are well distributed.
Cover the cookie dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour. Chilling allows the dough to cool and firm up before baking, resulting in thicker, softer cookies. Feel free to leave the batter in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours – the longer the better.
When the batter is ready to come out of the fridge, preheat the oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use 3 tablespoons of batter per cookie, scooping one tray at a time and keeping the batter in the fridge between batches. Gently roll each dough ball between your palms until smooth, then top each one with pieces of the reserved Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate. Bake for 12 minutes; the centers may look slightly underdone, but that’s fine. If decorating the cookies with candied peel pieces, do so right after the cookies come out of the oven. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Alright, let’s get started. Please make, bake and enjoy!
Spiced Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp / 70 grams plant based yogurt – room temperature
- 8 tbsp / 113 grams plant based butter with salt – room temperature
- 1¾ cups / 210 grams all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground all spice
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ½ cup / 100 grams cane sugar
- ½ cup / 100 grams coconut sugar
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 5 tbsp / 50 grams mixed citrus candied peel – please see recipe on the website if you are interested in making your own
- 7 tbsp / 105 grams Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate – you will need 2 bars for this recipe
Instructions
- Measure out the 105 grams of Chocolove Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate bar and roughly chop it up; set it aside for later. Measure out the citrus candied peel and roughly chop it up; set it aside for later. Make sure to reserve some chocolate pieces and candied peel pieces for the tops of the cookies.
- To a small bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, all spice and cloves. Whisk to combine and set the bowl aside.
- To a medium bowl, add the butter, orange zest, cane sugar and coconut sugar. With a handheld blend, whip the butter, zest, and sugars together on medium high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. – it should be creamy and well blended.
- Add the yogurt and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture. Using the handheld mixer, blend for about 1 minute or until all ingredients are well mixed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Using the handheld mixer, blend at medium speed until no more flour can be seen. Toss in the roughly chopped chocolate and citrus candied peel into the batter and fold them in until well incorporated
- Cover the cookie batter and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This allows the batter to firm up before baking the cookies. Feel free to leave the batter in the refrigerator up to 24 hours if you choose, the longer the better.
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Each cookie is 3 tablespoons of cookie dough. Scoop a tray of cookies at a time. Return the batter to the refrigerator between batches. Roll each dough ball between your palms to smooth them out and top the cookies with the reserved orange chocolate chunks.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. They will look slightly under cooked in the center, that is ok. If decorating the cookies with candied peel pieces, do so right after the cookies come out of the oven. Allow the cookies to rest on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
