I’ve been in love with all things orange for quite some time. In fact, when I was younger I used to live for those mini orange muffins from the grocery store. So sweet, full of citrus flavor and studded with beautiful zest. Pop one. Pop two. Pop seven and you’re still never satisfied. They’re just that good.
Throughout my pregnancy, I’ve continued on my little orange obsession. Remember those dreamy orange chocolate chip muffins? Wait, what about this beautiful paleo orange-kissed loaf? Or how about the soft orange cookies I made last year?
Safe to say, these days I crave just about anything that’s orange. I’ve even resorted to putting sweet orange essential oil in all of my natural cleaning products and diffuser on a daily basis.
CALL ME THE ORANGE QUEEN. Or don’t. Idk.
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I couldn’t be more excited about these Italian chocolate orange cookies. They just so happen to be inspired by three things:
- My love for Italian knot cookies during the holiday season. They’re just so soft and pillowy! Have you had them?!
- My husband’s big Italian family who throw an amazing Christmas party every year where everyone must bring cookies.
- My ridiculous obsession with all things orange. Okay, and chocolate.
What are Italian knot cookies?
Italian knot cookies are a type of cookie that is similar to a cross between a cake and a cookie. They’re soft, pillowy, often citrus-flavored and not overly sweet.
Most Italian knot cookies are known by different names including, but not limited to: knot cookies, lemon or orange knots, love knots, anginetti, and more! Some of these Italian cookies will often use cream cheese or ricotta in the dough to keep it soft, but I like to keep mine nice and simple without it.
A key difference in baking ingredients is that most Italian cookies will use baking powder instead of baking soda to create an almost cake-like texture, which is quite frankly…. really, really addicting.
Ingredients in chocolate orange cookies
These chocolate orange cookies are super easy to make and only require a few ingredients:
- Butter
- Sugar
- Orange zest + orange juice
- Egg
- Vanilla
- All purpose flour
- Good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Salt
As usual, I’ve included a few options in the recipe to jazz up these chocolate orange cookies for the holiday season. You can feel free to add chopped walnuts, cinnamon and/or allspice to the dough. So yummy and festive!
Also, let’s not forget about the ridiculous good orange glaze. You’re going to want to put it on EVERYTHING and anything.
How to freeze cookie dough for later
Freezing cookie dough is wonderful because it allows for portion control or simply for prepping ahead when you have guests or are throwing a party. I LOVE freezing extra cookie dough because that way I can pop them in the oven whenever I want and it’s great when you want to bring something to a party or to a loved one’s house, but don’t feel like having a baking extravaganza. Here’s how to do it.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. This is known as a flash freeze.
- Once the cookie dough balls firm up, you can transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container. Cookie dough will keep well for up to 3 months.
- When ready to bake, simply bake cookies as directed in the recipe. For these cookies, I suggest letting the dough thaw at room temperature while you preheat the oven so that you can slightly flatten the cookies as directed.
How to freeze baked cookies for later
If you want to freeze the already baked cookies for later, simply wait for them to cool completely, then transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container lined with wax or parchment paper. I like to place them in a single layer to avoid any cookies breaking. Cookies will keep well for up to 2 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy. You can freeze with or without the icing.
I hope you love these chocolate orange cookies! If you make them, I’d love to hear from you — feel free to leave a comment below and rate the recipe. I appreciate it! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Italian Chocolate Orange Cookies with Orange Icing
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 medium orange
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Optional to add into the dough:
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- For the icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 tablespoon softened cream cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest for 1 minute until well combined. Turn mixer to medium-low speed and add in egg (make sure it’s at room temp -- you can do this by running the egg under warm water for 1 min); beating until well combined. Next beat in the vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix together on medium-low speed until just combined.
- Use hands to grab one heaping tablespoon full of dough and roll into a ball. Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten cookies with the palm of your hand so they are about ¼ inch thick. (If you like very fat, puffy cookies, no need to flatten them at all.) Bake for 10-13 minutes until just barely golden brown on the edges.
- Remove and allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
- To make the icing: Once cookies have cooled, make the icing: add the powdered sugar, orange juice, zest, melted butter and softened cream cheese to a bowl. A drop of almond extract is also delicious in the icing, but please only do one drop if you'd like. Spoon the icing onto the cookies or you can dip of the top of the cookies in the icing then place back on the wire rack to allow icing to harden. Garnish with a little extra orange zest to make them pretty. Makes about 14 cookies.
Recipe Notes
- Roll the cookie dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. This is known as a flash freeze.
- Once the cookie dough balls firm up, you can transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container. Cookie dough will keep well for up to 3 months.
- When ready to bake, simply bake cookies as directed in the recipe. For these cookies, I suggest letting the dough thaw at room temperature while you preheat the oven so that you can slightly flatten the cookies as directed.
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
What to do with your extra orange peel after making these cookies
If you’re looking for something to do with your orange peels, I highly suggest the following:
- add 3 cups water, orange peels, and 1 tablespoon whole cloves to a medium pot and place over medium low heat.
- Bring to a simmer but not a boil.
- Add more water as necessary (it will evaporate) and allow the orange and clove aroma to fill your home. Trust me, you’re going to love how cozy it smells, especially during the holiday season.
Do you use Dutch processed cocoa or natural cocoa?
I typically use natural!
These were lovely! I made them with the spices and I used pecans. I’m loving all of your recipes! Thank you!!!
So happy to hear that!
I wanted to add something zesty to our holiday cookie boxes this year and these cookies were a HUGE hit. The texture is divine – not quite cake, not quite brownie, uniquely soft cookie. The orange is just bang enough that you know it’s there, but you can still taste the chocolate. I used a mix of black cocoa and burgundy cocoa for a really rich deep chocolate flavor. Will make again and again!
Amazing! So glad they were a hit!
This recipe turned out tasting really good. I liked it’s uniqueness and the blend of flavors and textures. I have mixed feelings about the process, though. In the recipe, it’s says the roll the cookies into balls by hand. My better never got to the consistency where I could pick it up by hand, it was very much like cake batter. I had to use a spoon to scoop it out. I’m wondering if this was an error on my part, if there’s something I’m missing about making the dough, or if the recipe is flawed in some way. I enjoyed the outcome over all, just was confused by the description.
Hi! Strange to hear that the batter was extra moist like cake batter – I would double check your wet-to-dry ingredient ratios and be sure none of the dry ingredients were missed!
Love these cookies.
Absolutely. So glad you found this recipe ❤️
These are literally the best cookies ever!!! I’ve made them 3 times within a month & I can’t get enough!! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Ahh I’m so glad you’re loving them, Bianca! Thank you!!
Is butter salted or unsalted. I’m assuming UN. Help!!!
I’d recommend salted butter but you could use unsalted and add an extra pinch of salt, if you’d like!
Delicious!
Glad you enjoyed!
Can I refrigerate the dough for a day or two before baking the cookies? What would the process for this be?
Yes! Feel free to refrigerate it all together or after rolling it into cookie dough balls. You may want to let it warm up a bit at room temp before rolling it into cookie dough balls if you refrigerate it all together.
I just made these for Christmas. They’re absolutely delicious and they look pretty too boot, You’ll definitely end up with extra icing. I suggest using them on shortbread or sugar cookies.
Love it! And great idea 🙂
These were delicious! I made them as directed and they were perfectly between cake and cookie texture. I didn’t use cream cheese in the icing, so it was a bit more translucent but also good. Instead of orange zest, I decorated with candied orange bits, which looked and tasted great.
Perfect! Sounds delicious 🙂
Hi there! So I tried these a second time and the cookie came out perfect, but I wasn’t able to get the icing as white or as thick like in the picture. I did include the cream cheese this time, but they icing set still somewhat soft (I can’t really stack them) and unless I pile a lot on (spoon on, wait a bit, spoon on some more, risk a bit of running), I don’t get them to look white on the cookie.
Any ideas?
Try a little more powdered sugar in the icing next time! And be sure to add the glaze when the cookie are completely cooled (otherwise it will soak into the cookie).
These are my favorite cookies now! Super delicious, were gone in 2 min!
So glad you love them!
Do you think I could substitute GF flour, dairy free butter, dairy free cream cheese and a flax egg in this Italian Chocolate Orange Cookie recipe?
I haven’t tested, but let me know if you try it!
These are probably my favorite cookies to make in the winter. They melt in your mouth and the flavor combinations are incredible!
Best combo ever! Glad you love them!
Another homerun by Monique. These are lovely, soft, and not too sweet even with the glaze. The combination of chocolate & orange is perfect. I added a teaspoon and a half of instant espresso powder for fun (probably would do just 1 teaspoon next time, though).
Amazing! Glad you loved them!
This is such a unique combination and it’s just perfect! The cookies are so soft and pillowy!
Absolutely! Love these.
These are just…. Incredible. The combo of chocolate and orange is *chefs kiss*. The icing is mandatory, you don’t want to skip it. So, so, so yummy. Making these for the third time tomorrow (just came back to make sure I have all the ingredients!)
Love it! And yes that glaze is everything 🙂
Easily one of the best cookies I’ve had. Chocolate & orange were just meant to be together! And they were super easy to make. Making them again to bring home to my family for Christmas!
My favorite combo! Hope your whole family loved them 🙂
The orange flavor in these really comes through and is really nice, They were very easy to make. both times I made them. I was not able to handle my dough with my hands either time, so I used a tablespoon and a spoon to shape the cookies and I did not press them down because my dough was stickier. I live in a very humid climate, so sticker dough is something I often deal with. They still baked great and looked like the photos. I also found that I needed more icing to coat a batch – I was doing the dipping method, so maybe not necessary if you spoon it.
I don’t think I will make these all the time because my family prefers more of a classic chewy cookie – and these definitely have a more subtle taste/sweetness and a cake like consistency (which is exactly what they were supposed to be).
Glad you enjoyed! They’re definitely a more unique cookie, and always feel free to double the icing for a little extra.
I can’t wait to make these! I’ve been following you for several years now and you are amazing at what you do! Hard worker! Thank you for your amazing recipes 😍
I hope you love them! And thank you so much – that means the world!
holy crap those look amazing. TRYING
Thanks Dana! They’re SO delish.