Sugarcoated Melt-Aways

A crunchy, slightly citrusy sugar shell surrounds a melt-in-your-mouth, buttery, shortbread style cookie studded with mini chocolate chips.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate, heirloom recipe, orange, shortbread, walnuts

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 12

Drying Time 1

Total Time 1 57

Servings

Calories 95kcal

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or silpats (optional, but makes cleanup easier)
Pour the orange juice into a shallow dish, set aside for dipping the cookies later.
1/2 cup orange juice
Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.
1 3/4 cups flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in water and vanilla until well combined.
3/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon cold water, 1 teaspoon vanilla
Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, be careful not to overmix.
Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts, just until evenly distributed.
1 cup miniature chocolate chips, 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
Roll the dough into 1" balls (a #100 cookie scoop works well for portioning the dough), placing them about 1" apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake at for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Pour the additional sugar into a shallow dish. Dip each cookie first in the orange juice, then roll it in additional sugar and place it back on the wire rack to dry completely. Continue until all the cookies are coated.
additional sugar
Store the cookies in an air-tight container.

If you use unsalted butter (as I usually do), I suggest increasing the salt to 3/8 or 1/2 tsp