Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Grilled BBQ Chicken
Corn on the Cob
Sausage

Russ grillin' it up outside again!


I couldn't go another day without messing up the kitchen, so I tried a recipe I found around Christmas. Never had one, but went on a mission looking. They were GREAT!


Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies


2 3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T fresh, grated orange rind
1 cup margarine, mented (I used butter)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. orange extract
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice

3 ounces premium quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Nestle's mini chips because I had them!)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and orange rind. Mix well and set aside.


In large bowl, blend sugars with electric mixer at medium speed. Add melted margarine and beat well to combine. Add eggs, orange extract, and orange juice, and beat well. Add flour mixture, blending until combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.


Drop by tablespoons onto foil liked cookie sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 12-15 minutes until cookies are slightly brown along edges. (They don't darken light regular chocolate chips--they will be light!) Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Yield: 48 cookies
(http://www.recipezaar.com/)


Note: I didn't really want 48 of these cookies lying around...especially since I already baked some earlier in the week, so I kind of halved it, though not exactly on some measurements. Here is my version and it worked!


1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 T orange rind (I probably used more)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg (I actually used Egg Beaters!)
1/2 tsp. orange extract
1 T orange juice
1 1/2 ounces mini chips (I didn't even measure, I just dumped in what I had)


It didn't make 24, more like 16. I used Pampered Chef's cookie scoop instead of a tablespoon.