Nut-Free Orange Cookies with a Chocolate-Orange Filling

Happy New Year! I hope all of you had awesome holidays, and ate lots of desserts! If you didn’t eat tons of sweets over the holidays, or did but are craving more, I have the perfect treat for you. A treat that is nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, and refined sugar-free! Wowza, that’s a lot of “free”s. Do you know what’s not on that “free” list? Delicious. Or orange-y. Or rich. Or satisfyingly sweet. The list goes on, and on!

These cookies are really scrumptious. To the point where I had to physically fight my brother off the plate of them so that there would be some left to photograph the next day!

The true joy of these cookies is that they take a very short amount of time to make, and the result is fantastic! Just know that once they’re in the oven, the coconut oil will start to melt, and the cookies will spread a ton. This is completely normal, so don’t freak out, just make sure to place the scoops of dough far apart on the baking sheet so they don’t meld together.

Lastly, the combination of the mild orange-vanilla flavor of the cookies and the rich, deep flavor of the chocolate-orange filling is simply stunning. These are very addictive, with the chocolate filling, or not. But the filling just makes them insane!

Makes 18 cookies or 9 sandwich cookies.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

½ cup + 2 Tbs raw honey

½ cup coconut oil, slightly softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temperature

½ cup coconut flour

¾ cup tapioca flour or arrowroot flour (tapioca is cheaper)

1 pinch sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs fresh orange zest (the zest of 1 large orange)

For the filling:

3/4 cup (122 grams) dark chocolate, at least 70-85% cacao content

3 Tbs coconut oil

1 Tbs raw honey (optional)

2 tsp fresh orange zest

Directions:

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.     In a large bowl, using an electric mixer (or stand mixer), whisk together the honey and coconut oil
until smooth and fluffy.

3.     Whisk in the vanilla and eggs.

4.     Mix in all the dry ingredients until smooth, then stir in the orange zest.

5.     Using a cookie dough scooper, (or a heaping tablespoon, though the cookies would end up smaller) scoop the dough into balls spaced about 2½ inches apart on the parchment-lined sheet.

6.     Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes. Note that the will spread A LOT in the oven. That’s how they’re supposed to be.

7.     Leave the cookies on the parchment paper, and transfer to a cooling rack. Then repeat steps 5-7 with the rest of the dough.

8.     Let the cookies cool fully while you make the filling.

9.     Place the chocolate, coconut oil, and honey (if you’re using it) in a double boiler over high heat or a small saucepan over medium heat.

10. Once the chocolate has melted, place the mixture in the fridge to cool, for 20-30 minutes.

11. Scoop the cooled (and firm) chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl, then add the orange zest and whisk with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.

12. Spoon a bit of the chocolate filling on top of one cookie and gently spread it around. Place another cookie on top. Note: If the filling is too hard to spread, you can use your fingertips to rub it onto the cookie. It will spread easier because the coconut oil will start to melt at the touch of your finger.
13. Repeat this with the rest of the cookies, and enjoy!