These are inspired by one of my favorite childhood cookies: chokini!
If you have never heard of it, it's long shortbread cookies infused with orange and loaded with chocolate chips. I could eat a full packet in one sitting with a little help from my brother. Here is an inspired version that is vegan, gluten-free, and healthier than the original ones!
These cookies are perfect for the holidays, the combination of orange and chocolate immediately brings me into a Fall mood. The best part? They taste exactly like the ones I remember eating!
To keep these gluten-free I went with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend combined with almond flour. For the 1:1 gluten-free flour, I recommend using Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour, or making your own version using this recipe.
First, we cream vegan butter with coconut sugar, orange juice, and a ton of finely chopped orange zest. Next, add in the gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, and chocolate chips.
Once you have a dough, shape it into a rectangle and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. You want to refrigerate the dough to make it a bit firmer, and let the orange zest infuse it.
After about two hours, it's time to bake these little treats! Cut your dough into thin slices to make flat rectangles, transfer to a baking sheet, and bake!
The result is crunchy, buttery, and perfectly crumbly cookies infused with a delicate orange flavor and loaded with dark chocolate chips. It's a super delicious holiday treat that would also make a great gift!
Looking for more holiday sweets? Check out these Soft Thumbprint Cookies, Slice & Bake Chocolate Chunk Cookies, or these Chocolate Chunk Buckwheat Blondies!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Orange Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoon vegan butter at room temperature
- 3 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped orange zests from about two oranges
- 1 teaspoon orange juice
- ¾ cup gluten-free flour blend*
- 2 tablespoon almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoon mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium size mixing bowl, cream the butter and coconut sugar together. Add the finely chopped orange zests and the orange juice, and mix to combine.
- Add the gluten-free flour, almond flour, and baking powder, and mix until fully combined. At first it will look like a dry mixture, but as you keep mixing it will form a dough. Stir in the chocolate chips and mix again until evenly distributed.
- Shape the dough into a ball, and place it on a layer of plastic film. Shape the ball into a rectangle of about 1.5-inch thickness and 3.5-inch wide. Wrap tightly in plastic film and chill for at least 2 hours. It will allow the dough to firm up slightly and get infused with the orange zests.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife, cut slices of about ⅓-inch and place on the prepared baking sheet. If some slices are a bit crumbly because of the chocolate chips, simply reshape them on the baking sheet.
- Bake for about 18 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool completely before enjoying!
- Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Thanks for another great recipe. I'm a big fan of the orange and chocolate combo, and these were so easy to make and a real treat. I do have to say that I'm not a big fan of gluten-free flours for baking, but they were so good, I wondered if I could just sub regular flour 1:1 in this recipe?
You're welcome Izzi! I haven't tried with regular flour yet. If you do let me know how it goes!
I have the dough in the fridge chilling. It already smells amazing! Your recipes are just the BEST! Thank you for creating them!
You're welcome Federica! Thanks for your kind words!