Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Shortbread:
100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
zest of 2 medium oranges
130g (1 stick plus 1 T) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
260g (2c plus 2 1/2 T) GF Bob's Red Mill 1:1 baking flour
60g (1/2c) cornstarch
1/2tsp salt
40g (2 1/2 T) orange juice, freshly squeezed
Chocolate dip:
150g (5.5oz) 70% dark chocolate, melted
1-2tsp melted coconut oil, optional
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Directions: |
Directions:Preheat oven to 350ºF with the rack in the middle position. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add sugar and orange zest to a large bowl, and use fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps release oils from the zest.
Add the softened butter and vanilla, mix well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. *Don't cream or aerate, this can cause the shortbread to lose shape in the oven.*
Sift in the GF flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix together until you get a fairly dry mixture--it will be very crumbly and it won't stick together very well. Add the orange juice and mix well until the cookie dough starts coming together. Give the dough a thorough knead until it comes together in a smooth ball. The cookie dough shouldn't bee too crumbly, it will hold together well but shouldn't be sticky to the touch.
Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper into a rough rectangle about 1/3-1/2 inch thick and about 4.5 inches wide. *Rolling between parchment means not needing to flour your surface, eliminating too much flour in the dough*
Trim your rectangle so that its 4.5 inches wide, with straight edges. Then use a bench scraper (or pizza cutter!) to cut dough into 1/2 inch wide cookie sticks. You should have cookie sticks that are about 4.5 inches long by 1/2 wide by 1/3-1/2 inch thick.
Re-roll any scraps to make more sticks, ending up with approx. 36 cookies in total.
Carefully transfer the cookie sticks onto lined baking sheet. Make sure they're fairly straight and correct any bending. Cookies can be fairly close together, they shouldn't spread during baking. **Cookies can be placed in the fridge for about 15 minutes to help them firm up before baking, this is optional.**
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until they're light golden all over with only slightly darker, golden brown ends.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooing rack to cool completely.
Chocolate dip:
If your melted chocolate is too thick and viscous, add 1-2 tsp melted coconut oil to loosen it up. You want to able to achieve an even, thin later of chocolate on the shortbread. Transfer the melted chocolate into a narrow glass or other narrow container that will give you a deep layer of chocolate for dipping. Dip the cookie sticks into the melted chocolate. After dipping, gently shake them to help any excess chocolate to drip away, then transfer the chocolate-dipped cookie sticks onto a lined baking sheet.
For extra decoration, transfer left over chocolate to a piping bag and drizzle over cookie sticks. Alternatively, decorate the sticks with sprinkles of choice.
Keep in a closed, air-tight container in a cool, dry place for 1-2 weeks. |
This recipe for Orange Shortbread Cookie Sticks is from