Shortbread is one of the easiest things to bake, because you only need a few ingredients (mainly butter :)) and it is a fairly neutral item so you can make all kinds of different variations by adding in other ingredients. This particular recipe features chocolate and orange, a combo I love.
This recipe is super easy as it uses the same shortbread base for the bottom and top layer and in between you have tasty orange marmalade and chunks of chocolate. The marmalade has small bits of orange that give a very slight fruity bitterness that is a great contrast to the sweetness and richness of these bars. I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips in these because they are my favorite, but you can also use dark chocolate chips or chunks which would also be amazing.
These bars only take about 40 minutes to make and they taste amazing. You could also sub in some raspberry preserves instead of the marmalade, which I might do soon because I think that would be so good.
Chocolate Orange Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large egg yolks room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups orange marmalade
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks or more to taste
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 and line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium high until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and yolks, and mix again on medium until well combined, scraping the bowl to make sure everything is well mixed.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the mixer and mix just until combined. Hand mix the last bit to be sure it is combined.
- Spread 1/2 the batter in the bottom of the pan. I used cooking spray on clean hands to do this as the dough is sticky. Microwave the marmalade for 20 seconds to loosen it up and stir it. Spread it over the dough. Drop the chocolate around over this and then drop spoonfuls of the rest of the dough over the top and again, spread it with greased hands. You don't need it to full cover as you actually want some marmalade and chocolate showing through.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate and bake another 15 minutes or so until the top is golden brown and it is set in the middle. Cool for 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool fully before cutting into squares. These can be stored in an airtight container at room temp, and they also freeze well.