Anita's Orange Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
AS FEATURED IN THE PROPA EATS MAGAZINE IN THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER.
These cookies are definitely NOT your plain old chocolate chip cookies. These are a much more amplified version, with intense flavours! When you first bite into them, you are hit with a nice orange flavor that compliments the chocolate perfectly. Crunchy pecans with hints of oats comes next with every subsequent bite. Once your palate experiences this medley of flavours, you just can’t stop eating them!
I went to my daughter’s sports day and someone gave us a jar of orange chocolate chip cookies. Ther were tiny cookies, about the size of a twenty five cent piece and they were sorprisingly delicoius! I never though that combination of flavours would go so well together. I decided to add oats to give it some body, and pecans to add sone nuttyiness and when the first batch came out of the oven, I was hooked for life! I just love these cookies so much that I have to share them with you guys.
Make sure and use the combination of both sugars, since this ratio gives a nice thickness to the cookies. Oh, and these cookies are not meant to be crunchy; they are more on the soft side.
Yield: about 36-40 cookies
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup melted butter, cooled
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon orange extract
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Flaked sea salt (optional)
Method
Preheat your oven to 350 deg F.
Place you oats in a mini chopper and pulse until finely ground.
Measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and place in a bowl. Add the oats, salt, baking soda and set aside.
Whisk the melted butter with both sugars for about 5 minutes. Make sure and use both types of sugars since this will affect the thickness of your cookies. If you use only white sugar they will spread too much. Add eggs and orange extract, and continue whisking until light and fluffy. Add the flour and combine- do not overmix!!!. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips. I like to use both milk and semi sweet chips here to balance off the sweetness; if you prefer a less sweet cookie, then use semi sweet only.
Using a medium ice cream scoop (1.5-2 tablespoons), drop the cookies onto a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten each cookie.
This is how it will look before flattening. If you want a thicker cooker then leave it as is.
Bake on the center rack for 10-12 minutes, turning the pans halfway through baking. After 10 minutes, check on your cookies, once the edges start turning brown, they can be removed, if not, then allow a further 2-4 minutes. Make sure a stick around, because these can burn quickly. As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle some flaked sea salt onto them and place on a rack to cool.
Store in an air tight container for up to a week. They also freeze well.
