Blood Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week! I don't know about you, but I don't need a special week to celebrate the chocolate chip cookie. I didn't just want to make the "same old chocolate chip cookie" for you. I perused the grocery shelves looking for inspiration and stumbled onto a bag of these...

And thought hmm..blood orange and chocolate..citrus..chocolate chip cookie! Eureka!

You need to make these, why? Because I said they were delicious, thats why!  Okay, yes they are, but also because blood oranges are in season right now, meaning they are at their peak of juiciness! And because you can feel good that while you may be consuming a chocolate chip cookie, you are getting some Vitamin C. That blood red juice is full of a special antioxidant, anthocyanina (antho-huh?!)A cookie full of antioxidants that can help reduce wrinkles, you say?! Ok eating a plate of these may not have you toting skin like Cindy Crawford but hey it can't hurt right?

If you are unfamiliar with the blood orange (it's ok I admit I have never had one until now either), it is a variety of the orange that when you cut into has a bright crimson (hence, the name blood) colored fruit inside. And they are season right now (ok, no not locally in season for me, that would be nice).  It is definitely worth grabbing a bag of these while you can folks.

Blood oranges can range in their sweet to tartness so I decided to use a dark brown sugar in this recipe. Not only does it give the cookie a chewiness that is unmistakable, but it also helps balance out the tartness of the blood oranges. They remind me of a milano cookie. It has the crunchy butteriness with that "hmm, what is that, orange note in the background" followed by all that chocolate. It's a perfect, is it winter still with all its chocolate chip cookie comfort and the "Has spring arrived?" citrus element.

I decided to use as the base of this cookie, Sally's Baking Addiction no. 1 ranked chocolate chip cookie recipe , which uses cornstarch (I know, cornstarch!). She raved about it so much that I figured how it could  be wrong? Well, she was right! I added in the zest and juice of one medium sized blood orange. I also added in white chocolate chips, because I had this annoying 1/4 of a bag staring me down. You know how that goes, right? I actually had 3 miscallenaeous bags overall of white and dark chocolate chips that all found a happy home in this cookie recipe. In the end, it amounted to 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips and 1 cup of dark (60 % cacao) chocolate chips.

So, there you go. A blood orange chocolate chip cookie. A little different. Totally delicious. Happy Chocolate Chip Cookie Week everyone...grab your mixer and celebrate with me!

Blood Orange Chocolate Chip Cookie
Bostonigirlbakes.com adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Juice of 1 blood orange (2 Tbs. approximately)
• Zest of 1 blood orange ( 2 teaspoons approximately)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg, vanilla, juice and zest.  Scrape down the sides as needed. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350F.
4. Once chilled, the dough will be slightly crumbly, but will come together if you work the dough with your hands as you are rolling individual balls. Drop 1 Tbsp balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. Do NOT cook them longer than 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet. If the cookies are too puffy, try gently pressing down on them with the back of a spoon. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. Transfer to cooling rack.
5. Cookies stay soft and fresh for up to 10 days in an airtight container.
6. You can also freeze the dough as I did. Scoop them into 1-inch balls and freeze in a single layer. Keep in an airtight container or ziploc bag. Add an additional 1-2 minutes baking time when you bake them!