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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Orange Choc Chip Buttermilk Cookies

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Chocolate Chip Cookies.

They are my ultimate comfort food, especially the home baked ones. Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked cookies, it's like a hug. For your nostrils. Okay that sounds weird, but hopefully you know what I mean. Right now, I'm home alone for the first time in ages and looking forward to curling up on the couch with a glass of milk and a plate of warm, gooey cookies. Sure, my mild lactose intolerance will make me regret it later, but it will totally be worth it.
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These cookies were whipped up after searching the internet for good recipes to use up my leftover buttermilk. I came across these lemon glazed buttermilk cookies on Epicurious, but I didn't feel like lemon cookies. I needed a chocolate chip cookie fix! So I went with the classic combination of orange and chocolate. Dark chocolate, it always has to be dark chocolate chips for me.
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These cookies are not going to be for everyone. The texture is very different to a regular chocolate chip cookie. The buttermilk makes them soft and fluffy in the middle, more like a cake than a biscuit. If you bake the outside until it's all lovely and golden, you'll still have a nice crunch on the outside. But if you like your choc chip cookies super crunchy, these aren't for you.
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Personally, I usually prefer crunchy choc chip cookies over chewy ones. But these ones are nearly their own category of texture, they're not quite chewy and not quite hard, more like a cake cookie. I think I like them a lot, I'll let you know after I've pigged out on the rest of the batch :P The orange zest in the cookies makes them so fragrant, it's the perfect addition to the light cookie dough. Even better when you bite into them and find a pocket of melty dark chocolate.
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I actually baked these cookies a little longer than the original recipe called for, I wanted them to have a bit more colour and crunch. It worked out pretty well I think, the buttermilk stops them from getting too dry, so don't get scared and take them out of the oven too early. This is a great easy recipe to use up any buttermilk you might have leftover in your fridge, especially because you can adjust the recipe amounts depending on how much buttermilk you've got leftover. But I demand you eat at least some of them when they are still warm not long after you've finished baking them.
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Orange Choc Chip Buttermilk Cookies
(adapted from this Buttermilk Cookie recipe from Gourmet, makes approx 30 cookies)
3 cups (approx 450g) plain flour
zest of 1 orange, approx 1 tbsp
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
170g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (approx 340g) caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) with rack in middle. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
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Drop level tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips over each cookie to pretty them up :) Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are puffed and golden, 13 to 15 minutes per batch. Cool cookies on sheets for 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks. Best eaten warm, store in an airtight container in the fridge and then microwave for 20 seconds before serving.
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25 comments:

  1. If your nostrils ever need a hug, I'm there. Actually I think we'll just share some cookies together :P

    Squeee! Hello milk carton! Your props are always so freaking adorable. And these cookies rule.

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  2. YUMMO! Nothing beats a batch of choc chip cookies.

    Woot for the milk carton :)

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  3. And with homemade cookies, there's always a choice of whether to make chewy or crunchy ones. Unlike store-bought ones which are always crunchy.

    Heheh, I also spot the glass milk carton... =)

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  4. I love your images so much! They are gorgeously set up. Plus, this would a yummy combination.

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  5. They look delicious, I'm loving the sound of cakey middles. Yum!

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  6. Looks delicious love your recipe and the photos are beautiful

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  7. mmmMm I can almost taste the zestyness of the cookies from here! nice combo with the buttermilk!

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  8. this sounds perfect for sandwiching ice cream!

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  9. I love your blog! You always have such lovely recipes, I love the look of the texture of these cookies, I bet they were delicious.

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  10. Squeeee milk carton!
    (cookies look yummy too)

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  11. teehee i want a hug for my nostrils too! your cookies look awesome kinda like muffin tops!

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  12. Love the milk carton, your props are ALWAYS so cute! hmmmm cake cookie!

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  13. I love how well chocolate and orange compliment one another. I made orange chocolate chip biscotti as a "thank you" gift just the other day. These look absolutely delightful!

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  14. Lovely shots and they look so inviting!!

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  15. I always have the problem of leftover buttermilk after making a chocolate cake. This will be a great solution. Thanks for the recipe!

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  16. awww such pretty photos! haha we are definitely twins... sometimes my body doesn't agree with lactose, but I tend to ignore it and regret it later ;) these look amazing!

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  17. What a great idea! Remember Jaffa Cakes?

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  18. where did you get the glass milk carton from?

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  19. Susan Bennett - Of course, I LOVE them! I tried making my own yonks ago

    charis - It's from Fred so you can find it heaps of places, but I bought mine here: http://www.ozgadgets.com.au/half-pint.html

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  20. OMG - in love with your milk carton! And cookies too ;)

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  21. First off, your pics are GORGEOUS!
    I made these cookies but substituted part of the butter with some yogurt. I hope you're not too mad, it means I get to eat even more :)
    The bottoms are nice and brown but the tops look anemic. They still taste good though... Is it because there was less butter??

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  22. Houston_sugar_mama - Of course I don't mind :) Umm not sure, does your oven tend to bake things unevenly usually? I usually alternate between using my top and bottom coils to ensure both sides get even heat. Or you could even flip them over to brown the tops more?

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  23. Hey! :) I love your blog, your ideas are ingenious and your recipes are so follow-able it's great :) Um I haha literally just got these out of the oven and the texture is so fabulously fluffy :D but mine spread out tons (i presume because of the buttermilk?) so I actually put the last bit of the mixture into cupcake trays to contain the size of them. Do you have any tips for how I could stop them turning into fluffy orange pancakes? :P

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    1. Hi! Thanks so much :) Yes I think these cookies do expand quite a bit because of the baking soda, it's expected. Though yours sounded like they went a but nuts! You might have had too much batter per cookie, were you using level tablespoons of batter per cookie? Otherwise I'd suggest you reduce the amount of baking soda. Hope that helps! xx

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  24. I made these today to send to my mom. It's her birthday on the 1st. Mine stayed puffy and didn't spread at all. Like someone else, mine were paler on the top. But that's ok. They're delicious!

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