Orangey Chocolate Cookies

I have a recipe I'd like to share with you today. It's for chocolate orange cookies and

I'm chuffed to say that it's my own. Well, soft of. It's generally based on the double

chocolate cookie recipe from the hummingbird bakery cookbook but I've added

my own little tweaks and twists to it and it had resulted to these completely different

but so delicious chocolate cookies. These are soft and chewy with an orangey scent

and flavour, plus a lovely bit of saltiness in every bite. If you're a fan of chocolate

and orange, then I'd love for you to try these.

You'll need:

50 grams unsalted butter

325 grams plain cooking chocolate, roughly chopped

2 eggs

170 grams soft light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

85 grams plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

zest of 2 large oranges

75 grams raisins

You'll also need to grease and line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.

And here's how to make them:

Preheat oven to 170 C/325 F/Gas 3.

Melt the butter and 225 grams of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over

a saucepan of simmering water. Leave until melted and smooth.

Beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. You can use an electric mixer

or do this by hand. Beat until well mixed. Pour in the chocolate mixture and beat

until both are well combined.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl. The sea salt granules are

usually too big to pass through the sieve so I just add them after sifting the flour

and baking powder together. Stir these into the chocolate mixture in 2 or 3 additions,

mixing well. Stir in the orange zest then the remaining 100 grams of chocolate

and also the raisins.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture spaced well apart on the baking trays.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. They're done when the tops start to crack and look shiny.

Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack

to cool completely.

This recipe makes about 15 cookies and they'll stay soft and chewy when

stored in an airtight container.

Everyone who had tried these cookies really liked them. They were well received

when my husband brought some to work and also by a friend and her family. So I really

hope you'll like them too. It's like the cookie version of Terry's Chocolate Orange,

but even better. Definitely much, much better.

Enjoy!