Chocolate and:
- mint
- raspberries
- coffee
- coconut
- cherries
Chocolate is perhaps the most versatile and amiable ingredient out there. It gets along beautifully with so many other flavors (including savory – witness rich Mexican mole sauces). I pair it here with bright, zesty orange for a twist on the chocolate (chocolate) chip cookie. These are nearly guilt-free because they don’t contain a ton of sugar and don’t use oil or vegan butter. Brew up a pot of tea or coffee while these bake and then take a few moments for yourself to indulge in one or two.
A couple of comments on the ingredients…If you haven’t tried Lily’s Sweets vegan, stevia-sweetened chocolate chips, you’re missing out. They’re absolutely delicious and lower in calories than regular chips. (They also make four varieties of vegan chocolate bars.) They can sometimes be found at Whole Foods, but I buy them via Amazon in bulk because I use them so often. I also call for orange oil (or extract) in this recipe. It adds that extra oomph of orange flavor to these cookies, so be sure to get some before you make these. Finally, I use brown rice flour and my go-to brand is Anthony’s.
Need some other guilt-free cookie recipes?
- Sunbutter Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- GF Simplest Maple Oat Cookies
- Banana Bread Cookies
- Apple Butter Cookies
- Superfood Cookies
Triple Orange Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 14
- Total Time: 22
- Yield: 18 1x
Description
Triple the orange and double the chocolate in these guilt-free cookies.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup tahini
- zest of 1 orange
- 1/4 tsp. orange oil or extract
- 1 Tbsp. chia seeds mixed with 3 Tbsp. water
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup cacao or cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- pinch sea salt
- 1/2 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Lily’s Sweets brand; sweetened with stevia)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the orange juice, coconut sugar and tahini until smooth. Add the orange zest, orange oil and chia seed mixture.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, cacao powder, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the flour mixture. This is a very thick batter, but mix until it comes together. Add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times to fully incorporate them.
- Drop walnut-sized pieces of dough and place on the cookie sheet. When all the dough has been used, press down the cookies using the back of a wet spoon. These cookies do not spread (but they do puff) so it’s important that they are flattened. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through to ensure even baking. Let cookies cool on pans for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks. Store in an air-tight container.
Mmmm, I can almost smell the orange zest. Wonderful ingredients and a delicious looking result. It’s very satisfying when you finally publish a post you’ve had on the back burner for ages. Like a good spring clean.
I have some very, very old and dusty posts in there. Kind of scary!
I said yes after just reading the title – what an incredible cookie recipe 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Haha! That’s all you needed to see. I totally understand that!
I’m totally with you on the chocolate-orange thing. These look divine! I bet the tahini works wonderfully in them, and fab that they’re both oil and sugar free!
Using tahini is such a nice little trick. And what would I do without stevia…
Ahhh, tahini! Oh, chia seeds! Very good! They look so sophisticated or something! If cookies can look sophisticated! Love ’em.
I think cookies can “clean up” quite nicely :-)!
These cookies look just stunning & ooh so appetizing too,…Yum Yum Yummm! Being a blogger, I have 95 drafts, in my blog archives. I need to take pics of them or re-write them, etc,…:(
95 drafts!! You’re amazing! I think I have about 20…
Yum! Alack, no tahini in our house at the moment, but will definitely make a plan, because I happen to have date paste with nothing planned 😀
You might try almond butter if you have that – – I think peanut butter might be too strong of a flavor.
Mmm I do indeed have almond and even macadamia nut butter, but this is an epic excuse to go food shopping tomorrow, because tahini really hits the spot for that off-beat sweet/salty vibe *angelic face*
I do NOT want to get in the way of an epic excuse ;-)!! Have fun!
Annie, these cookies look amazing! I’ve never heard of Choffy. Any substitution ideas? (I have cacao nibs.)
You could try making your own – full disclaimer – though I’ve never tried it with my cacao nibs! You’d need to grind them down a bit first, then pour hot water over them and let steep for about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid for another use (or sipping) and the grounds for the recipe. I use about 5 tbsp. of Choffy to about 1 1/2 cups water. Or, you could just omit from the recipe :-).
HA, yes I DO have drafts collecting dust. I like to keep them there in case of emergencies. These cooookiesss.. Seriously, perfect combo!
Oh, you know I love tahini! I have used it in several desserts and it really does impart a rich flavor without using oil, in fact it is better than oil because the flavor is so awesome and creamy. I love this orange and chocolate chip cookie…a wonderful combo. And yes, I have recipes coming out of my ears…it is honestly chaos, haha! I really want to try that Choffy too sometime!
I wish I had such a back log of recipes that I almost forgot about one. Must be quite the collection if you forgot about one this tasty 😉
These look so chewy and chocolatey and yum!! I so love chocolate and orange with nuts.
I think i’d need two to make sure they were good, maybe 3.
My work schedule gets me a bunch of posts that get stuck in drafts for weeks. Some never see the light of day….some should have never seen the light.
I’ve gotten so I give them a publish date a few months away so I don’t hit the publish button some late night by mistake when it’s just a mesh of words and bad pics….loving these cookies. Wish we were neighbors so I could drop by unexpected and you’d feel obligated to offer me one for the road, mmmmmmmmmm. Great glass BTW 😉
Haha! Oh so true! Some of my drafts are VERY old, with very awful photos – so they will stay hidden! I also do the same thing: line up posts about a month or so out. Then I go back in and tweak a few times until I’m satisfied.
Annie! Love, love, love this recipe, will keep it for a cheat day 😉 orange and chocolate is my favourite flavour combination. The choffy sounds interesting, could brewed cocoa sub?
And I’m totally with you on the drafts gathering dust, and the notebooks, and the random scraps of paper and the thousand photos for editing!!
We love our orange and chocolate, right ;-)?
Right!!
These are gorgeous as usual! And yes, totally. I have a dusty to do list, but same idea. Such a backlog!
Some of mine should probably never see the light of day…
I haven’t had much luck with sugar-free cookies Annie, but every recipe of yours that I’ve tried has turned out amazing. Guess I’ll have to give this one a try. Celeste 🙂
I hear ya, Celeste. Sugar DOES do something (good) to the texture of baked goods. For me, over time, I’ve come to enjoy sugar-less treats, but it was difficult for a while.
Chocolate, tahini, orange and dates – Yum! What a great combination – I bet it’s pure magic! 🙂
Hmm these sound good 🙂 and yes… YES I do have recipes lurking around in the draft folder. More than 70 actually 🙂 all piled up while travelling, and over the holidays… as much back as October 2013. So yeah. I should get to that^^
Liane! You take the prize with 70 drafts!! Amazing!
Pingback: Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan) | Honk If You're Vegan
I love love LOVE the combo of chocolate and orange! I bet these are just wonderful!
Ooh, the Choc-Orange combo in a cookie! Yummo! I’m very glad you dusted this one off and brought it out of the drafts folder, Annie. I’m hugely intrigued by this ‘Choffy’ you mention – I need to investigate Australian or DIY alternatives – sounds like a delicious adventure. 🙂 x
Pingback: Chocolate Apricot Truffle Chocolate Cups « anunrefinedvegan
Pingback: Valentine Chocolate-covered Beet Pretzels with Sea Salt & Cacao Nibs • an unrefined vegan
Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite combinations, and one of my mom’s as well. Maybe I’ll bake these for Mother’s Day. They are sure to be a hit. Thanks for the delicious post!
Oh, I hope you and your mom like them, Maureen! And I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.
Pingback: Bake-Off!!! – Green Impact