Amazing Orange Milk Chocolate Chunk Heavenly Divine Cookies

Orange Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m not kidding you. These cookies are HEAV-EN-LY!! These are, in my personal opinion, the best damn cookies I’ve ever made. They are inspired by the tales of my Sister going on and on about Ben’s Cookies. When I was in the UK she said “You HAVE to go get an orange milk chocolate cookie from Ben’s while you’re there! They’re everywhere!”. Well I never found them anywhere! I thought they’d be on every corner and I never bothered to look them up because my senses were on overload already in London. So I was trying to order Ben’s cookies online and they wouldn’t send them to me here in Los Angeles so I scoured the internet for a recipe. The result is a modification of several recipes I found based off the detailed description my sister told me of how they were structured. These may not be exact because I’ve still yet to taste this Ben’s cookie whoever he is. But whatever or however Ben does his cookie can’t possibly be much better than this!

The self rising and cake flour help the cookie with it’s texture and softness. These cookies really don’t get crunchy unless you over bake them, which I DO NOT recommend! Don’t fudge with this recipe! I realize it is a little complicated, but believe me it is worth it! I don’t want to hear from you if you alter this by even ONE ingredient! If you’re a baker then I believe in you! You will do right by these cookies. The dough will be a little loose and not quite as firm as your standard chocolate chip cookie dough, but make sure to refrigerate it to firm it up. Also another tip I recommend is to put the dough back into the refrigerator in between baking to keep it firm. I gave these cookies out during the holidays and they were a huge hit. I’m gonna bake up another batch to send to my sister to see how they compare to the almighty Ben! My sister is a pretty fierce baker so remind me to blog about her carrot orange cookies & cinnamon rolls next time! They’re out of this world too! Yeah we’re pretty orange crazed I guess. Enjoy and let me know how they turn out for you!

Makes about 36 large cookies

 

INGREDIENTS

600g (21 oz) (2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons)  Self Rising flour

600g (21 oz) (2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons ) Cake flour

100g (4 oz) ( 1/2 cup ) All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon baking soda (the soda and powder may seem redundant with SR flour but add anyway!)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon salt

510g (18 oz) ( 4 cubes plus 2 tablespoons ) salted butter (cut into chunks) + a little extra for greasing the baking trays

600g (21 oz) (2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons) dark brown, soft sugar (not packed)

300g (12 oz) ( 1 1/2 cups) caster or regular sugar

finely grated zest of 4 large oranges

100g (4 oz) ( 1/3 – 1/2 cup ) finely minced orange peel or minced candied orange

3 eggs + 3 egg yolks

600g ( 21 oz) Fine quality milk chocolate, cut into big chunks ( I used See’s but Cadbury Dairy Milk is comparable )

200g ( 8 – 16 oz )  (1-2 cups) Fine quality Milk Chocolate Chips ( I used Ghirardelli )

1 tablespoon real vanilla extract

1 tablespoon real orange flavoring

1 tablespoon Orange Liqueur like Triple Sec or Grand Marnier

100g (4 oz) (1/2 cup)fresh Orange Juice from zested oranges ( I used tangelos grown in my garden )

DIRECTIONS

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F (gas mark 6). I prefer convection setting.

2 Lightly grease 2 large baking trays & line with parchment paper

3 Weigh out the three types of flour into a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and stir in the salt, baking powder and baking soda.

4 Now place the butter in a large bowl and melt it in the microwave until no solid bits remain.

5 Mix the dark brown, soft sugar, the caster sugar, the orange zest, minced orange, orange juice, orange flavour, vanilla, orange liqueur into the melted butter and combine everything thoroughly – an electric hand whisk or Kitchen Aid stand mixer is helpful here.

6 Break the eggs into a cup and when you are sure that the melted butter mixture is cool enough not to scramble the eggs (stick your finger in to test it), beat the eggs into the mixture.

7 Next mix the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir well until everything is fully combined.

8 Stir in chocolate chips with a large spoon or spatula

9 Refrigerate dough for at least one hour

10 To add the chocolate divide the dough into 36 pieces and then share the chocolate chunks between them, pressing them into the dough. I used an ice cream scoop to divide. Roll the dough pieces in balls and place them onto the 2 baking trays. Flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand. The cookies are fairly large so set apart a bit. I bake 9 to a standard sheet with 3 in each row

11 Now bake in the oven for 10 minutes. You want the cookies to still feel very soft in the center.

12 Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack as soon as they are out of the oven.