Dark chocolate orange cookies

Fans of chocolate and orange together will love this thick, soft and chewy cookie, which looks striking with its chunks and shards of dark chocolate and bits of orange zest. If you like, freeze balls of dough to pull out and bake when a craving hits – or when you need a little something for Santa. With thanks to Anna Olson for her chocolate chip cookie recipe – now the standard to which I compare all other cookies.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, at room temp
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
finely grated zest of an orange
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. (or more) dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chunks
1/2 cup candied citron (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugars and orange zest until pale and almost fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and stir or beat on low until almost combined; add the chocolate chunks and citron and stir just until blended.

4. Drop dough by the spoonful onto a parchment-lined (or buttered) sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes (depending on their size) until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen large or 3 1/2 dozen small cookies.