I’ve got a confession to make.
I don’t like chocolate chips.
Fine… go ahead. Hate me. But I’ve got to be honest. There’s something about chocolate chips which just puts me off. Which doesn’t mean that I’m not a chocolate lover. I love chocolate… especially dark chocolate. There’s nothing that elevates the mood quite like dark chocolate does.
Why isn’t it a girl’s best friend?
After diamonds of course.
So here are my chocolate chunk cookies. Or should I say, my Orange Paprika Chocolate Chunk Cookies. I wanted them eggless, and was a bit worried that they wouldn’t hold up quite as well. But they surprised me.
Orange Paprika Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I used about a 3/4 cup of dark chocolate, chopped into chunks, and 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour. The orange really does the job in these cookies… about a 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed juice, and a tablespoonful of julienned peel (you could zest it if you like but make sure that none of the pithy white parts go in) elevate these cookies to a realm of specialness. And the 1/2 teaspoon of paprika (it’s quite enough so don’t add more) takes it over the edge and soaring.
I used both white granulated sugar and packed dark brown sugar (1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons respectively), with a 1/2 cup of butter. Creaming it well, then adding in the vanilla extract and the orange juice, before incorporating the dry ingredients. Finally folding in the orange peel and chunks of chocolate.
Spoon the batter onto parchment lined trays, press it down a bit, sprinkle with brown sugar and bake in an oven preheated to 150 degrees C for about 35 minutes or till the edges turn brown.
A spoonful of gooey goodness... just waiting to be baked.
Remove the trays from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the trays for 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Deliciously chewy and chocolaty with a hint of orange and paprika.
These cookies turned out wonderfully chewy… the gooey chocolate coming through first… then the orange, with the paprika finally kicking in to round up a delicious mouthful.
Didn’t I say the 1/2 teaspoon would be quite enough?
I prefer chunks to chips too. You’re not alone! The addition of paprika intrigues me; I would never have thought of that but these cookies sound delicious!
Thanks Sarah. These are my “Big Girl” cookies
. The fun part is that the paprika hits you last, just when you’re beginning to wonder whether you should have put in a bit more. Don’t! 