These gluten free orange shortbread cookie sticks are guaranteed to become a new holiday favourite. They’re perfectly buttery, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture and a wonderfully intense orange flavour, thanks to the addition of both orange zest and orange juice to the cookie dough. They’re incredibly easy to make and perfect for dipping into coffee, cocoa or hot chocolate.
I have a confession to make: I’m not a huge fan of cookie decorating – I just don’t have the patience for it! That’s why my Christmas cookie list mostly consists of cookies that require only minimal or no decorating at all.
Cookies like my gluten free lemon crinkle cookies which are stunning just as they are, or the gluten free cinnamon shortbread cookies that are rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking and they come out of the oven all sparkly and pretty. No piping or intricate decorating required: my kind of cookies.
The one kind of decorating I can totally get behind though is dipping cookies into chocolate. I’m ALL about that.
And when it comes to these deliciously buttery, melt-in-the-mouth orange shortbread sticks, they’re basically demanding to be dipped into some dark chocolate. After all, chocolate and orange is basically a match made in flavour heaven – and it’s so very, very Christmassy.
Before we get to the bits and bobs of making these amazing cookie sticks – if you like what you’re seeing, subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date on the latest recipes and tips!
Note: the whole recipe, including the ingredient quantities, can be found at the bottom of this page – just scroll down to the bottom, or click the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button at the top of this post.
The gluten free orange shortbread cookie sticks
These shortbread cookie sticks are simply AMAZING – perfectly buttery and rich, with just the right balance between crisp and crumbly. And the orange flavour is simply heavenly.
The base shortbread recipe for these cookie sticks is the same one that I used previously, in the Boston cream pie cookies and gluten free caramel “Twix” cookies, with a few minor tweaks. (And all of these shortbread recipes are based on my go-to, 100% reliable gluten free shortbread recipe from my gluten free cookbook, Baked to Perfection!)
To make the orange the star of the show here, it’s used in two different forms in the cookie dough:
- There’s plenty of orange zest (from two medium oranges) in the shortbread. In order to extract the maximum amount of essential oils from the zest, it’s best to rub it into the caster/superfine or granulated sugar. You’re essentially “massaging” the zest into the sugar, which will make the final, baked cookies extra fragrant.
- Orange juice (freshly squeezed) adds a bit of freshness to the cookies and it helps to bind the cookie dough together into a ball that you can easily roll out and cut into the individual cookie sticks. The juice adds a different dimension to the orange flavour, and it makes the cookies extra scrumptious.
The cookie dough comes together in no time and it handles beautifully, so that you can easily cut it into the individual cookie sticks without them crumbling or cracking.
I rolled out the cookie dough until it was about 1cm (about ⅓-½ inch) thick, and then divided it into individual sticks about 12 cm (4½ inches) long and about 1cm (about ⅓-½ inch) wide. I find this size the cutest and perfect for dipping into coffee or cocoa, but feel free to make the cookie sticks whatever size you like best.
Then, you need to (carefully) transfer them to a lined baking sheet and bake them at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 15-18 minutes or until they’re light golden all over with golden brown ends.
The finishing touch: dipping the cookie sticks into chocolate
Now, you could technically skip this step and just enjoy the cookie sticks as they are – but why would you want to, when you can dip them into dark chocolate and make them EXTRA delicious (and extra pretty too).
Here are a few tips to give your chocolate-dipped cookie sticks the perfect, polished look:
- Ideally, use tempered chocolate. To get a glossy finished look with no “blooming” (white streaks in the chocolate), I recommend tempering your chocolate. A quick way of doing this is to melt about 75% of the chocolate, finely chop up the remaining 25% and add it to the melted chocolate. This is called the “seeding method”, where the chopped chocolate (in temper) encourages the melted chocolate to crystallise correctly, to give a glossy finish with a “snap” to it as you bite into it. Make sure that your chocolate is cooled down to about 86-90ºF (30-32ºC) before you start dipping the cookie sticks.
- If your melted chocolate is too thick, add some coconut oil. Depending on the type of chocolate you’re using (the brand, cocoa solids percentage, and so on), your melted and tempered chocolate might be slightly too thick and viscous for dipping, especially as you want to achieve an even, fairly thin layer of chocolate on the shortbread. If that’s the case, add about a teaspoon or two of coconut oil to the melted chocolate – this will thin it out and make the dipping process much easier.
- Shake off any excess chocolate. After you’ve dipped each cookie stick into the chocolate, make sure to allow any excess chocolate to drip off (shake the cookie stick to speed up the process). Otherwise, you’ll be left with a pool of chocolate around the cookie stick after you’ve placed it down on the baking sheet.
- Pipe extra chocolate in a zig-zag pattern to make the cookie sticks even fancier. This is an optional step, but I like to transfer any remaining chocolate into a piping bag (re-melt it if necessary) and use it to pipe zig-zag lines over the chocolate-dipped end of the cookie stick. This makes them even prettier.
- You can also use sprinkles! If you want the cookie sticks to be more colourful or festive, you can of course use whatever sprinkles you fancy – just have fun with it!
Honestly, these gluten free orange shortbread cookie sticks really couldn’t be easier to make – and they’ll be a hit with everyone, regardless of whether or not they follow a gluten free diet.
And this cookie shape is just really fun. It’s perfect for dipping into coffee, cocoa or hot chocolate, and it’ll be a wonderful addition to any Christmas cookie lineup. Though, considering just how ridiculously delicious these are, I can definitely see myself making them the whole year round.
I really hope you’ll love them as much as I do.
Happy baking!
More amazing gluten free Christmas cookies
If you’re looking for more Christmas cookie inspiration, here are some of my favourites:
- Gluten Free Caramel “Twix” Cookies
- Black Forest Flourless Brownie Cookies
- Gluten Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- The Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
- Gluten Free Pistachio Biscotti
- Gluten Free Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescent Cookies)
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Orange Shortbread Cookie Sticks (Gluten Free)
These gluten free orange shortbread cookie sticks are guaranteed to become a new holiday favourite. They’re perfectly buttery, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture and a wonderfully intense orange flavour, thanks to the addition of both orange zest and orange juice to the cookie dough. They’re incredibly easy to make and perfect for dipping into coffee, cocoa or hot chocolate.
Print Rate SAVE
4.91 from 10 votes
Prep Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Cook/Bake Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Servings 36 cookie sticks
Author Kat | The Loopy Whisk
Ingredients
Gluten free orange shortbread:
- 100 g (½ cup) caster/superfine or granulated sugar
- zest of 2 medium oranges (Ideally, use organic unwaxed oranges.)
- 130 g (1 stick + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 260 g (2 cups + 2½ tbsp) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour that doesn't have any xanthan gum added. You can also mix your own gluten free flour blend using this recipe. Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a kitchen scale for best results.)
- 60 g (½ cup) cornstarch (US)/cornflour (UK)
- ½ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan gum.)
- ½ tsp salt
- 40 g (2½ tbsp) orange juice, freshly squeezed
Chocolate dip:
- 150 g (5½ oz) dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), melted (Ideally, use tempered chocolate. See the Notes section for more details.)
- 1-2 tsp melted coconut oil (optional)
Instructions
Gluten free orange shortbread:
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a large baking sheet with parchment/baking paper.
Add the sugar and orange zest to a large bowl, and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps to release more essential oils from the zest.
Add the softened butter and vanilla, and mix well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined.
Tip: Don’t cream or aerate the mixture, as that can make the shortbread spread out in the oven and lose its shape, which is something you want to avoid (note the absence of any raising agents for the same reason).
Sift in the gluten free flour blend, cornstarch (US)/cornflour (UK), xanthan gum and salt. Mix it all together until you get a fairly dry mixture – it will be very crumbly and it won’t stick together very well.
Add the orange juice and mix well until the cookie dough starts coming together.
Give it a thorough knead (because it’s gluten free you don’t need to worry about over-working the dough!) until it comes together in a smooth ball. The cookie dough shouldn't be too crumbly, it will hold together well – but it also shouldn't be sticky to the touch.
Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment/baking paper into a rough rectangle about 1cm (about ⅓-½ inch) thick and just over 12cm (4½ inches) wide.
Tip: Rolling between sheets of parchment/baking paper means that you don’t need to flour your work surface, which in turn eliminates the possibility of incorporating extra flour into the cookie dough.
Trim the cookie dough rectangle so that it's 12cm (4½ inches) wide, with straight edges. Then, use a bench scraper or a sharp knife to cut it into about 1cm (about ⅓-½ inch) wide cookie sticks.
This way, you should get cookie sticks that are about 12cm (4½ inches) long, 1cm (⅓-½ inch) wide and 1cm (⅓-½ inch) thick.
Tip: I find this cookie stick size the cutest and perfect for dipping into coffee or cocoa, but feel free to make the cookie sticks whatever size you like best.
Re-roll any scraps to make more cookie sticks, you should get about 36 in total.
Carefully transfer the cookie sticks onto the lined baking sheet. Make sure that they're fairly straight and correct any bending.
You can arrange the cookie sticks fairly close together, as they don't spread during baking.
Tip: The cookie sticks are easy to transfer with the help of a small offset spatula. However, you can also put them (along with the bottom parchment paper) into the fridge for 15-30 minutes, so that they firm up a bit. This will make them even easier to transfer.
Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 15-18 minutes or until they’re light golden all over with only slightly darker, golden brown ends.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Chocolate dip:
If your melted chocolate is too thick and viscous, add 1-2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil to loosen it up. You want to be able to achieve an even, fairly thin layer of chocolate on the shortbread.
Tip: Ideally, use tempered chocolate. See the Notes section of this recipe for tips on how to easily temper your chocolate.
Transfer the melted chocolate into a narrow glass or other narrow container that will give you a deep layer of chocolate (you want to be able to dip at least half of a cookie stick into chocolate).
Dip the cookie sticks into the melted chocolate. After dipping, gently shake them to help any excess chocolate to drip away, then transfer the chocolate-dipped cookie sticks onto a lined baking sheet.
For extra decoration, transfer any remaining chocolate into a piping bag (re-melt it if necessary) and use it to pipe zig-zag lines over the chocolate-dipped end of the cookie stick.
Alternatively, you can also decorate them with sprinkles of choice.
Storage:
The gluten free orange shortbread cookie sticks keep well in a closed air-tight container in a cool dry place for about 1-2 weeks.
Notes
Tempering the chocolate: To get a glossy finished look on your chocolate-dipped cookie sticks with no “blooming” (white streaks in the chocolate), I recommend tempering your chocolate. A quick way of doing this is to melt about 75% of the chocolate, finely chop up the remaining 25% and add it to the melted chocolate. Mix well until all the chocolate is fully melted. This is called the “seeding method”, where the chopped chocolate (in temper) encourages the melted chocolate to crystallise correctly, to give a glossy finish with a “snap” to it as you bite into it. Make sure that your chocolate is cooled down to about 86-90ºF (30-32ºC) before you start dipping the cookie sticks.
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