Poppy O’Toole’s vegan chocolate chunk and orange shortbread recipe
Chocolate and orange are a match made in heaven in this shortbread recipe.
“We all love a bit of chocolate orange, don’t we? In a shortbread as well, it makes for a lovely biscuit to dunk into tea,” says chef Poppy O’Toole.
“Or to just eat on its own. Oh, and it’s vegan! Lovely for everyone.”
Vegan chocolate chunk and orange shortbreads
Ingredients:
(Makes 18)
350g plain flour
100g caster sugar
250g vegan butter, cubed and chilled
175g vegan dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Zest of 2 oranges
Pinch of flaky sea salt
Method:
1. Using your fingertips and thumbs in a large bowl, or pulsing in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Using your hands, press the dough together until it starts to clump, then add the chocolate, orange zest and salt. Bring it all together into a crumbly dough, then roll the dough into a sausage shape about four centimetres in diameter. Cut the sausage in half and wrap both pieces tightly in cling film.
Eat now:
Place one of the wrapped doughs in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Using a sharp knife, slice the chilled dough into one-and-a-half-centimetre-thick rounds and place the rounds on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 15–20 minutes until the edges are lightly golden. Cool on the tray briefly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Eat later:
Freeze the remaining wrapped, unbaked dough for up to three months. To bake from frozen, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Unwrap the frozen log, leave it to stand for five to 10 minutes or so, and then slice it into one-and-a-half-centimetre-thick rounds. Place the rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 25–30 minutes until the edges are lightly golden. Leave to cool on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to three days.
Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Batch Cookbook by Poppy O’Toole is published in hardack by Bloomsbury Publishing. Photography by Haarala Hamilton. Available now.