Chocolate Tangerine Shortbread

Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate and Tangerine – Light buttery tangerine shortbread cookies with chocolate drizzle and candied tangerine rind. This shortbread cookie recipe is sure to make your cookie tins zesty this holiday season!

We all have our favorite kind of cookie…

For some it’s a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. For others it’s oatmeal cookies or chocolate crinkles.

My favorite cookies always fall under the butter cookies category. Shortbread cookies and thumbprints being the top competitors.

Although I make shortbread cookies all year long, I look forward to making them the most during the holidays because there are so many possible variations, and they pack and ship so well.

This year’s shortbread cookie recipe is a zesty tangerine shortbread with chocolate drizzle and candied tangerine rinds sparkling above.

The combination of rich butter, smooth Gold Medal Flour, and bitter-sweet tangerine zest make a glorious base for the decedent toppings.

I always use Gold Medal Flour for holiday baking, because I can count on its flavor and texture to be perfect in every bag I buy.

I made the butter cookies dough and placed it in the fridge to chill, while I made the candied tangerine rinds, to save time.

Anytime you candy citrus rinds it’s important to follow a 3 step cooking process, to ensure they are soft and tender, yet retain their color. You can do the first two steps in the microwave for convenience. Simply place them in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Drain and repeat. Then you are ready to boil them in sugar syrup.

After that, toss them with sugar so they sparkle!

Then roll out the shortbread cookies, bake them, and drizzle them with melted chocolate, before placing a citrusy jewel on each cookie!

These butter cookies look and taste bright, and full of holiday cheer.

They are sure to put smiles on your friends faces!

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Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate and Tangerine

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate and Tangerine - Light buttery tangerine shortbread cookies with chocolate drizzle and candied tangerine rind.

Servings: 50 cookies

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

For the Candied Tangerine Rinds:

• 3 tangerines
• 1 3/4 cups sugar divided
• 3/4 water
• Pinch salt

For the Butter Cookies:

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• Zest of one tangerine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/4 cups All Purpose Gold Medal Flour
• 11 ounces chocolate chips

Instructions

For the Butter Cookies: 

• Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy--3-5 minutes. (Don't skimp on the time--this makes a big difference in texture.) Add the tangerine zest, vanilla, and salt and mix in. Then slowly add the flour until just combined. Dump the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Press into a disk, then wrap well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Break the dough in half, leaving half in the fridge. Flour a work surface and roll out half the dough until 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 2- to 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out the cookies very close together. Then gather the remaining dough, re-roll and cut again. Every time you roll out the dough it gets tougher, so try to cut as many from the first roll as possible. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Bake for 15 minutes and cool on the cookie sheets 2-3 minutes, before moving to a cooling rack. Meanwhile...

For the Candied Tangerine Peels:

• Score the peel of 3 tangerines in three complete circles. Make sure not to cut all the way through the fruit, so you can save it for snacks. Pull the peel from the stem end of the tangerines down to the navel end, forming long 3/4- to 1-inch wide strips. Cut the strips into thin slivers.
• Place the rinds in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with water and microwave until the water is boiling, 2-3 minutes. Drain, refill, and repeat.
• Stir the 1 1/4 cups sugar and 3/4 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil. Add the tangerine peels, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the peels to a sheet of parchment paper to dry slightly, about 30 minutes. Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl and toss in the rinds to coat.

To Assemble:

• Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate has just barely melted, usually 60-90 seconds total. Pour the melted chocolate into a zipbag. Close the bag and snip off a tiny corner on one end. Use the bag to pipe chocolate drizzle over each cookie. Then before the chocolate dries, place a piece of candied tangerine on top. Allow the chocolate to dry completely before moving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 155kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 52mg, Potassium: 19mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 220IU, Vitamin C: 1.5mg, Calcium: 12mg, Iron: 0.5mg

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Author: Sommer Collier

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Disclosure: The post is sponsored by Gold Medal Flour. All opinions are my own.

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