12 weeks of Christmas cookies - # 9 - Chocolate orange shortbread

As Chrismas is coming nearer and nearer (Can you believe next Friday will be in December ^__^) I feel more and more excited about things I bake.
These shortbread cookies were thrown down in a couple minutes the other day, while I was preparing lunch for me and my little one (who was home with the stomach flu and tummy ache), I just had to make them, because my cookie box was getting empty.
Something similar happened yesterday evening, after dinner, I couldn't get apple strudel flavoured biscotti out of my head, and I was up almost till midnight until they were done and cool enough to be tasted.
I'll just add, two first times in a week, and two bingos ^__^. No, I didn't win any money, just two winning recipes. The shortbread is here, and for those biscotti... you'll have to come back next week.

So, this week in Twelve weeks of Christmas cookies baking group, I'm bringing you something really simple and delicious cookies, that you can make in just a few minutes and enjoy with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
They were supposed to be made with cocoa powder, but I discovered too late that the cocoa was finished, and I think that substituting it with dark chocolate gave even better result, at least for my taste.
And the chocolate orange combo is so classical, but so good, that I can't get tired of it. I even wanted to flavour the white chocolate I used for decoration with some orange zest but forgot it in the end.

So, what are you waiting for, grab a few and keep me company on this rainy day (the forcast says snow over the weekend, who knows?)



Chocolate Orange Shortbread


150 g flour
115 g butter, softened
70 g sugar
30 g dark chocolate , 75 % cocoa
1 orange, finely grated zest
a pinch of salt
for decoration: about 50 g white chocolate

Roughly chop the chocolate then put it in the food processor together with the flour, and process in short intervals until it’s almost completely reduced to powder (never mind if there are a few small pieces left).
Cream the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed.
Add the flour chocolate mixture and the finely grated orange zest and mix again with the mixer at low speed to form soft dough.
Divide the dough in 2 to 4 equal parts (depending if you prefer your triangles to be bigger or smaller, I went for small ones) and shape each into a circle and flatten it with your fingers (I used a small metal ring to get same size circles) – shape the circles on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.
With a knife or a pizza wheel cut each circle into 8 (if you made big ones) or 6 triangles (if you made small ones) but do not separate them.



Prick the dough with a fork and bake them in an oven preheated to 175°C for 16 to 18 minutes, until firm to touch.
Take them out of the oven and cut again while the dough is still warm. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet.



To decorate them, I melted some white chocolate, put it into a small parchment paper cone and piped it over the cookies once they were cool.
Store them in an airtight container.




Shortbread al cioccolato e arancia


150 g di farina
115 g di burro, ammorbidito
70 g di zucchero
30 g di cioccolato fondente, 75 % cacao
1 arancia, la scorza grattugiata fine
un pizzico di sale
per decorare: circa 50 g di cioccolato bianco


Sminuzzate il cioccolato prima con un coltello e poi mettetelo nel mixer insieme alla farina e riducete il tutto in polvere (più o meno).
Mescolate il burro e lo zucchero con uno sbattitore elettrico a velocità media finché cremoso.
Unite la farina con il cioccolato e la scorza di arancia e mescolate di nuovo a velocità bassa.
Dividete l’impasto ottenuto in 2 o 4 parti uguali (io ho preferito i biscotti più piccoli) e formate dei dischetti alti circa 5-6 mm appiattendoli con le dita. Formate questi cerchi su una teglia da forno rivestita da carta da forno.
Con un coltello affilato o la rotellina per la pizza tagliate ogni cerchio in 8 (se avete fatto cerchi grandi) o 6 triangoli (se avete fatto cerchi piccoli), però non separateli. Bucherelate la pasta con una forchetta e mettete a cuocere nel forno già preriscaldato a 175°C per 16-18 minuti.
Togliete la teglia dal forno e ritagliate di nuovo i biscotti mentre la pasta è ancora calda.
Lasciateli raffreddare sulla teglia.
Per decorarli, ho sciolto il cioccolato bianco, l’ho messo in un piccolo cono fatto con la carta da forno e disegnato delle strisce. Potete anche lasciarli “nudi”, ma così sono un po’ più belli e più golosi.


Per un'altra variante, sostituite la scorza d'arancia con la cannella, aggiungendo anche un pizzico di peperoncino se vi piace.





Shortbread keksi s čokoladom i narančom


150 g mekog brašna
115 g maslaca
70 g šećera
30 g tamne čokolade (sa 75 % kakaa)
1 naranča (naribana korica)
prstohvat soli
bijela čokolada (oko 50 g, za ukras)


Čokoladu nasjeckajte prvo nožem, a onda stavite u multipraktik zajedno s brašnom i miksajte u intervalima, dok čokolada ne bude skoro sva usitnjena u prah.
Umutite mikserom (na srednjoj brzini) omekšali maslac sa šećerom da postane pjenast.
Smanjite brzinu miksera i dodajte brašno sa čokoladom, sol i sitno naribanu koricu naranče. Mutite tek toliko da se sve poveže. Tijesto će biti jako mekano.
Podijelite tijesto na 2 ili 4 dijela (ovisno o tome želite li veće ili manje kekse) i od svakog oblikujte krug koji položite na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje i rastanjite dlanom na debljinu od 5-6 mm. Nožem ili nožem za pizzu izrežite svaki krug na 8 (ako ste radili veće) ili 6 trokutića (ako ste radili manje krugove) ali ih nemojte razdvajati. Izbodite tijesto vilicom.
Pecite kekse u pećnici zagrijanoj na 175°C 16-18 minuta, dok nisu suhi i čvrsti na dodir. Izvadite iz pećnice i odmah ponovo izrežite trokutiće nožem. Ostavite da se ohlade na plehu, a onda ih po želji ukrasite otopljenom bijelom čokoladom, a možete je i izostaviti.


VARIJACIJA: umjesto korice naranče dodajte 1/2 žličice cimeta.