Chocolate Orange Scottish Shortbread
Try my chocolate orange version of authentic Scottish shortbread, but this time with a chocolate dough & half dipped in chocolate orange!
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups
- Large spoon or spatula
- Electric mixer
- Medium mixing bowl
- Pastry Cutter/Pastry Blender (optional)
- Baking/parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- 2-3 Baking Sheets/Trays
- Rectangular Cookie Cutter (optional, but used a 3 x 6½cm. 1¼ x 2½")
- Fork
- Palette knife
- Cooling rack
- Microwave-safe bowl (or use a double-boiler)
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 225 grams Unsalted Butter (1 cup/2 sticks or 8 oz, cubed & softened)
- 110 grams Caster Sugar (3¾ oz, ½ cup Extra/super fine sugar)*
- 225 grams Plain Flour (8 oz, 1 ¾ cups All Purpose)
- 110 grams Corn Flour (3¾ oz, 1 cup less 1 tbsp Corn Starch)*
- 4 tbsp Cocoa Powder (1 oz, ¼ cup)
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 tbsp Milk (up to)
- 1-1½ tsp Orange Extract (optional)
For decoration (optional):
- 200 grams Chocolate (7 oz, milk & dark combo*)
- 1-1½ tsp Orange extract (optional & once chocolate cooled a little)
- Sprinkles of choice (optional)
Instructions
Preparing The Dough:
- Cube the 225 grams Unsalted Butter about 1cm or ⅓” and leave to soften. Lightly grease your baking trays/baking sheets to hold baking/parchment paper in place, especially if they don't have a lip, or your biscuits will fall off!
- Combine the softened butter & 110 grams Caster Sugar (Extra/Super fine sugar) in a mixing bowl & 'cream' together until relatively smooth. **Not as long as when making cakes.
- In another bowl, combine the 225 grams Plain Flour, 110 grams Corn Flour, (corn starch), 4 tbsp Cocoa Powder & a Pinch of Salt. Then add to the sugar/butter mixture & start to mix in by hand.
- Now you can use a pastry cutter/pastry blender to ‘cut-in’ the butter like when making scones or pastry. You can also use 2 butter knives or your fingertips to do this. Or, use the mixer just briefly. It will be very crumbly & needs some milk to bind it together. Add 1 tsp of the 2 tbsp Milk & give a mix. Then add 1-1½ tsp Orange Extract (optional). Gradually add some more drops of milk until the dough is starting to come together & now a dark brown colour.
- Gently knead the crumbly dough to bring it all together. Test it is ready by pinching off a piece, forming a ball & flattening it. It will hold together if it is ready. Otherwise continue gently kneading. If too dry, wet hands a little with the milk or water. Form the shortbread dough into a disc and if you want to cut-out later, wrap in cling film/plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
Cut Out The Shortbread:
- Flour an area to work or use 2 large sheets of baking/parchment paper. Sprinkle flour on the paper, place the disc of dough in the centre and top with another sheet. Roll out to a thickness of at least 1cm (over ⅓") **Should be thicker than regular cookies or shortbread.
- Dip your rectangular cutter in some flour and cut out as many biscuits as you can. Alternatively, form the dough into a square or rectangular shape to the correct depth and use a knife to cut out slim rectangular ‘fingers’. Size about 2.5-3cm by 6.5-7cm (1-1.2" x 2.5-2.75). Make a little slimmer than you want as they will expand just a little. ‘Dock’ the biscuits with 4 or 5 rows, using a fork.
- Transfer to the paper-lined trays (no need for gaps). Pull back excess dough, reroll and cut out more biscuits till all used up. Sprinkle lots of granulated sugar on top & press down.
- Chill the cut-out shortbread, stacking in the fridge if needed and leave chilled for at least 1 hour. **Do not skip this chilling or they will spread too much.
Baking The Biscuits:
- Preheat the oven to: 180°c/160°c Fan/350°f/Gas Mark 4. to coincide with the chilling time ending. Spread the chilled shortbread out onto 2 or 3 baking trays/baking sheets, leaving at least 1″/2½ cm in-between each.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 14-20 minutes. The shortbread will have spread a tiny bit and swollen a little and we don’t want to over-bake. Test by very gently pushing one and if it moves it is ready. Otherwise bake 1 – 2 minutes longer. **Just don’t try to lift as they will be very delicate.*
- Leave to cool on a cooling rack & immediately sprinkle on some more granulated sugar on top. After 5 minutes remove the baking tray & leave to cool before decorating. *Store in a metal cake or cookie tin after 1 hour if not decorating.
Decorating The Shortbread:
- Break up the 200 grams Chocolate & melt in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time, mixing in-between each burst. **Do not microwave any longer than 60 seconds at a time or you can risk burning the chocolate. Cool a little before adding 1-1½ tsp Orange extract (optional).
- Work on some parchment paper and half-dip the biscuits in the melted chocolate. Or use a small teaspoon to guide the chocolate. Place on the paper to set, adding some sprinkles too if you wish.
Serving & Storing:
- Serve the chocolate orange Scottish shortbread with some coffee, tea, milk or Scottish whisky!
- Store in a metal cake or cookie tin for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Butter - use unsalted butter for best & more consistent results.
Sugar - UK Caster sugar is always used, & Extra/Super Fine Sugar is the US equivalent. Or you can lightly blitz some granulated sugar.
Cornflour - UK cornflour is exact same as US Corn Starch & should not be omitted.
Equipment - use a pastry cutter/pastry blender or use the mixer briefly. I used a rectangular cookie cutter (3 x 6.5cm, 1.25 x 2.5") for speed, but using a knife is more traditional.
Recipe Yield - this chocolate orange Scottish shortbread recipe makes about 24 thick biscuits, when using the rectangular cookie cutter. Use a knife and there will be a bit slimmer and yield more. If you roll thinner, you can get as many as 40 finger biscuits. But thicker is true to Scoittish shortbread style and texture.
Other Scottish Shortbread - try my popular and original Scottish shortbread recipe or one of my other varieties. See images below.
Nutritional Information - I am not a qualified nutritionist and all values are approximated. These are based on using all the ingredients listed, same size cookie cutter, with a yield of 40 biscuits & where 1 serving is 1 biscuit finger. Make more or less biscuits and these values will change. All values calculated via MyFitnessPal.com.
Cornflour - UK cornflour is exact same as US Corn Starch & should not be omitted.
Equipment - use a pastry cutter/pastry blender or use the mixer briefly. I used a rectangular cookie cutter (3 x 6.5cm, 1.25 x 2.5") for speed, but using a knife is more traditional.
Recipe Yield - this chocolate orange Scottish shortbread recipe makes about 24 thick biscuits, when using the rectangular cookie cutter. Use a knife and there will be a bit slimmer and yield more. If you roll thinner, you can get as many as 40 finger biscuits. But thicker is true to Scoittish shortbread style and texture.
Other Scottish Shortbread - try my popular and original Scottish shortbread recipe or one of my other varieties. See images below.
Nutritional Information - I am not a qualified nutritionist and all values are approximated. These are based on using all the ingredients listed, same size cookie cutter, with a yield of 40 biscuits & where 1 serving is 1 biscuit finger. Make more or less biscuits and these values will change. All values calculated via MyFitnessPal.com.
Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Orange Scottish Shortbread
Serving Size
1 Biscuit
Amount per Serving
Calories
181
% Daily Value*
Fat
10
g
15
%
Saturated Fat
6
g
38
%
Monounsaturated Fat
3
g
Cholesterol
22
mg
7
%
Sodium
18
mg
1
%
Potassium
62
mg
2
%
Carbohydrates
19
g
6
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
9
g
10
%
Protein
2
g
4
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.