Chocolate orange is one of those iconic Christmas flavours, a necessary addition to any Christmas cookie box. These shortbread matchsticks are the perfect vehicle for the chocolate and orange combination – crisp and ‘buttery’ shortbread, dipped in dark chocolate for the tip of the matchstick. Not only are they cute, but they’re also extremely moreish.
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You may think you couldn’t get great shortbread without using butter, but i beg to differ – vegan butters in paper wrappers that you can buy nowadays give really great results and the added fat content really makes great authentic shortbread cookies. I tend to use Flora plant butter.
I know that chocolate orange can be a divisive flavour combination, so if orange isn’t your thing, how about sticking with vanilla or perhaps getting the Christmas vibe across with 1/2 tsp mixed spice instead?
I think these matchsticks are particularly appealing and will really set alight any Christmas occasion!
Chocolate Orange Matchsticks
Ingredients
Method
- Sift the flour into a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the sugar, zest and salt.
- Rub in the butter with your fingertips, or the mixer. As there is a large proportion of butter to flour you will form a dough pretty quickly after getting to the breadcrumb stage.
- Briefly knead the dough to make it nice and smooth.
- Between two sheets of parchment, roll out the dough into a nice neat rectangle and to about 4mm thick and then place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade
- Slice 1/2cm wide strips from the chilled dough and place, spaced apart onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until starting to gain a hint of colour around the edges.
- Cool on a wire rack
- Once totally cool, dip the tip into the melted chocolate and leave to set. You can sprinkle with coloured sugar crystals at this point if you wish.
