Messin with Perfection Chewy Orange Cookies with Chocolate Orange Ganache
Sunday, I decided The Gunker deserved one of his all time favorite meals. I already had a chicken thawed, so I got to it. Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes with homemade noodles in gravy. A heart attack on a plate. I post that one soon, as you would still die with a smile on your face.
Then I thought about a nice dessert and, with my usual ADD flair, that led me to recall that, whenever I make this meal, he eats so much at dinner that he never has room for dessert. Okay, scratch the dessert idea. Crap. I LOVE dessert and am a firm believer that there is always room for dessert.
That’s why I look like I look, and he is still built like he is 25. Ugh. Anyway, THAT led me to recall that I hadn’t checked the freezer to see how his lunch stash is doing. When asked, he admitted that there really wasn’t anything there. Ooops. I went looking, and found that there was more there than he thought, but still in need of replenishing. What to do. I need quick and easy.
I remembered years ago making cookies out of cake mix. They weren’t my favorite, but cake mixes and uses for them have come a long way. AANNND, we just got our first snow of the year and already that is making me crave warm weather. If I can’t go to Florida, which I can’t, the next best thing is something orange. Huh, I just happen to have an orange cake mix. Use more butter, make them chewy, make a simple orange glaze and I’m in, right? Right!
The Gunker loved them. Buuut, partway through icing them, I had a little light come on in my brain. That doesn’t seem to happen as frequently as it used to so, when it does, I try to listen.
Make a little dark chocolate ganache, with a little smack of orange…… Oh, were they ever good. You have got to try these. You could always use a lighter chocolate if you like, but orange goes very well with a good quality semi-sweet chocolate.
Make sure you allow time for the chocolate to set before you try to store these…..if you don’t eat them all. 🙂
- COOKIES
- 1 orange cake mix - I love Duncan Hines Orange Supreme
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
- 2 eggs.
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract (be careful here - too much will make it bitter)
- ORANGE GANACHE
- ⅓ cup good semi sweet chocolate, chopped
- ¼ cup cream
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon orange extract (start with less, bitter is bad)
- ICING
- 1 Tablespoon soft butter
- ¼ teaspoon orange zest
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons cream or milk
- about 1½ to 2 cups powdered sugar (enough to make a spreadable glaze
- Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the cake mix with eggs, juice, zest, butter and orange extract. Beat just for 30 seconds to a minute, just until blended.
- Drop by mounded tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake approximately 12 minutes, until firm but not browned on top. Place on racks to cool.
- Ganache:
- Place chocolate and cream in a small bowl and microwave about 1 minute at a time until hot enough to stir and melt the chocolate. Add orange extract to taste. Let cool 10-15 minutes minumum, then ice the cookies. Allow plenty of time for chocolate to set before storing.
- Icing
- Mix all icing ingredients well until smooth. Frost cookies. Icing will set after an hour or so.
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