cadbury orange blossoms

This cookie is my Ode to the Tangy Orange Creme Cadbury Irish Rose. Have you ever had a Cadbury Rose? Have you ever been blessed by a gift of a box or tin of Cadbury Roses? If not, I highly suggest that you get on this little adventure.  Cadbury Roses have been the pinnacle of chocolate indulgences my entire life.  I was born in Ireland but my parents emigrated to Canada when I was 3 and we later moved to the U.S.  Every few years, we would head back over to the Emerald Isle to visit family and we would have a few family members visiting us in between.  Each trip across the Atlantic, regardless of which way the traveler was going, resulted in some gifting of Irish chocolate. I remember rummaging through the box of roses while carefully reading the flavor menu either on the back of the container or via the little card in the tin. There also may have been some competing with my brother to be the first to get certain flavors, such as the Tangy Orange Creme (although I recall that the flavor name didn't always have the word "Tangy" in it.  I may have to check my Cadbury history).  In my world, Tangy Orange Creme was followed by Strawberry Creme, the Caramel Barrel and then we moved on to the more truffle like textures with the hard caramel and more solid, nutty chocolates at the end of the box. All of the roses are delicious but the Tangy Orange Creme ranks No. 1.

While the flavors of this cookie are based on my favorite Cadbury Rose, the cookie itself is also inspired by those beautiful American Hershey Kiss Peanut Butter Blossoms that dazzle Christmas cookie tables and swaps at this time of year.  The cookie is a soft, buttery texture with chocolate and orange flavors, instead of peanut butter, and a beautiful square of Cadbury Dairy Milk or Royal Dark is smushed right into the middle of it when the cookie comes out of the oven all warm and begging to be eaten.  The orange adds a rich and festive flavor twist that makes these great Christmas cookies.

Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of butter at room temperature
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp orange extract
-zest of 1/2 large orange
- 1 1/2 cups flour
-1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 cup white sugar for coating
-Approximately 3 bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk or Royal Dark (more if you plan to eat while baking!)

Directions
Cream together the butter and sugars in a stand mixer.  Add in the egg, extracts and orange zest while stirring on low and increasing to medium.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and stir until completely mixed together.  The batter will be thick.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie tray with parchment paper.  Using a cookie scooper, scoop out the cookies and roll in your clean hands into approximately 1 inch balls.  Roll the uncooked cookie into the 1/4 cup of sugar until coated and place on the tray.  Repeat until the cookie tray has approximately 9-12 cookies on it spaced apart.  Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 9 minutes.  Remove from the oven and immediately top with a square of Cadbury chocolate in the middle of the cookie.  Allow to cool on the tray for approximately 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely.  Repeat the process until the entire batter is used up.  The recipe will make 30-36 cookies depending on size of the cookies.  Enjoy!