Chocolat et orange cookies

You know how sometimes you inexplicably take a sudden liking certain foods that you didn't before?

For me, it is citrus flavoured desserts.

Yeah I know lots of people love all things citrusy. I, on the other hand, tend to steer clear from them for some reason. Sure, I'll eat oranges, kumquats, grapefruits and what not, but put them in a confiture, ice-cream, cake or even chocolate and you can be sure I won't touch it with a ten-foot pole. They remind me of dishwashing liquid - and who wants to have Jiff lemon flavour for dessert? I even remember those little individually wrapped Van Houten chocolates that we normally get during Chinese New Year - I'll dig through the whole lot and leave the orange-wrapped ones behind (I just have to wonder who finished those!).

Until now (5 years into adulthood), I've only managed to come across one citrus desert that blew me away - lemon gelato. It was sweltering hot in Basque country and all I wanted was something light, fruity and refreshing. Enters gelato. (Make that excellent gelato) I pick faves like cassis and green apple while Truffe goes for lemon. Once. Twice. Thrice. And he ate the third scoop with as much enthusiasm as the first one. Curiosity got the better of me and I tentatively took a bite out of his scoop - I was hooked from then on. Banana and lemon. Coconut and lemon. Green apple and lemon. Right before I left Basque, I shoved what would probably be the last frozen lemon scoop I would have there down. I just had to. *shrug*



And now, orange and chocolate. I was leafing through recipes from the Mrs Field's cookie competition. Chocolate and oatmeal (oooh!), white chocolate macademia (yummo!). There was only one problem - I was in the mood for something a little more exciting and the plain old flavours just didn't cut it. Give me matcha, black sesame, anything. So when this orange chocolate chunk recette caught my eye, I was all game.

And it feels somewhat like revisiting an old situation, only with a totally new perspective. I loved it.

In this recipe, I subsituted one cup of organic wholewheat flour for all-purpose flour - simply because I ran out of the latter. I also used fresh orange juice in place of orange extract and added 1 tsp of finely minced fresh ginger for that added kick. Was a little worried that the orange would be subdued, but the mixture of grated peel and juice worked the stage perfectly, with the peel providing a pleasant tang. The chocolate chunks were orgasmic - just the right size for a good mouthful of chocolate in every bite! I'm happy - simply 'cos liking another thing means more food for me! Heh.

Hmm. Gotta get in shape for my sister's wedding in Feb. Now, I'd better find a way to distribute these before I polish them all off....