Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookie Recipe

A chocolate orange shortbread cookie recipe featuring orange zest, dark chocolate, and sea salt. The best shortbread cookie recipe!

Why Make This Shortbread Cookie Recipe?

I first posted this shortbread cookie recipe in 2018, back when I was still living in New York City. Since moving to London, I’ve definitely become much better acquainted with shortbread (it’s a British biscuit staple!) so the time seemed right to give this recipe a makeover.

Featuring orange oil, juice, and zest, plus a dunk in melted dark chocolate and a generous sprinkling of sea salt, these easy shortbread cookies will delight chocoholics and orange lovers alike. They’re made with three kinds of orange, then paired with dark chocolate, evoking the flavors of another classic British treat, the Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

In addition to its zesty orange flavor, I love this recipe because it requires just a handful of ingredients, most of which are pantry staples like flour, sugar, butter, and kosher salt. Plus I’ve designed this recipe “slice and bake” style, so you don’t even need a rolling pin or a cookie cutter to make these—just roll the dough into a log, then chill, slice, and bake.

Chilling the Shortbread Cookie Dough

Chilling remains key to this shortbread cookie recipe. You want to keep the butter nice and cold, or your shortbread cookies will spread too much in the oven.

I’ve included two chilling steps. First, you’ll chill the entire log, making it easier to slice cleanly through the dough. You can chill the log for as little as 30 minutes, or for as long as 24 hours.

In the second step, your shortbread cookie slices take a 10-minute trip to the freezer. This pre-oven freeze quickly re-cools the dough after slicing, and prevents the cookies from spreading as they bake.

If you have a large freezer, feel free to chill your orange shortbread slices directly on the tray. But if you’re like me and only have a teeny tiny freezer, just stack the slices between sheets of parchment and place the stacks in the freezer instead:

If using two smaller trays, keep the second stack or tray of shortbread slices in the freezer until ready to bake. You want the dough to remain cold right up until you place the tray in the oven.

Orange Shortbread Ingredients

This recipe features three kinds of orange, which come together to create a zesty, citrus-y orange shortbread:

• Orange juice – Use freshly-squeezed juice, not the bottled stuff you’d drink for breakfast.
• Orange zest – Again, fresh is best! I suggest using a microplane to zest your orange as finely as possible.
• Orange oil – Choose a pure orange oil, rather than an extract. I used LorAnn Blood Orange Oil for this batch.

Making Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

When dipping your shortbread cookies, it helps to tilt the bowl to one side to allow for a deeper ‘dip.’ I prefer this method rather than melting more chocolate—you don’t actually need all that much, and filling the bowl deep enough to dunk it will mean lots of extra melted chocolate.

On that note, if you do find yourself with extra chocolate, just pour it out onto a sheet of parchment, allow the chocolate to harden, then place it in a plastic bag and save for future projects.

I did not temper the chocolate for this recipe, but you can certainly do so if you’d like. Tempering will help the chocolate to set more quickly, with a silky shine and snap that untempered chocolate just doesn’t have.

I made my chocolate orange shortbread using dark chocolate (Callebaut 54.5% is my go-to), but milk or white chocolate will pair equally well with these cookies.

While it’s tempting to speed things along, I suggest not placing the chocolate dipped shortbread cookies in the refrigerator. Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature instead, even if it takes a little bit longer.

Shortbread Recipe Tips and Tricks

I baked my shortbread slices on two quarter sheet trays, but feel free to use one half-sheet tray instead.

Because I’m a big fan of the salty-sweet combo, I finished my cookies with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. As an alternative, you can sprinkle the chocolate with pieces of candied orange peel instead, or skip the decoration and stick with plain chocolate.

Finally, make sure your chef’s knife is nice and sharp! You want to be able to slice cleanly through the shortbread, and a dull knife will produce a ragged edge, which means your cookies will look jagged and uneven.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

You can prepare the shortbread dough up to 24 hours in advance. I suggest shaping the dough into a log, wrapping it in clingfilm/plastic wrap, and storing it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Alternately, you can slice the log and freeze the slices between sheets of parchment until ready to bake.

For another make-ahead option, try baking the shortbread cookies on day one and storing in an airtight container overnight, then finishing the chocolate-dipping portion of the recipe on day two.

These cookies will keep well at room temperature for four or five days if stored in an airtight container. I suggest layering the cookies between sheets of parchment, and keeping the container in a cool place to prevent the chocolate from melting.

Other shortbread cookie recipes you might enjoy:

Funfetti Slice and Bake Shortbread
Shortbread with Spring Flowers
Shortbread with Pecans, Dark Chocolate, and Sea Salt

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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