Recipe: White Chocolate Chip and Orange Zest Cookies

Looking to make something light and sweet for Easter (and having failed at making candied ginger for use in orange ginger cookies that I mentioned in a Facebook post a little while ago, but still having a craving for orange), I decided to try out these "Orange Creamsicle cookies" from Living Tastefully. I didn't have enough white chocolate chips for a full batch of cookies, so I halved the recipe, but I'll share the full batch recipe here since the taste is the same (delicious!).
These cookies combine the sweet, vanilla-like taste of white chocolate with the brightness of tangy-sweet orange zest to create the perfect flavor combination in a twist on the original chocolate chip cookie. Try dark chocolate chips for a richer flavor or try lime or lemon zest instead of orange for a subtle change in flavor.

Yields: About 3-4 dozen (I got 20 out of a half batch)
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients 

• 2 & 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (pack the sugar into the cup rather than loosely fill)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp. orange zest (grated orange peel)
• Approx. 12 oz. white chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350*F. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In a mixer, blend/cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on low to medium speed. Add in the egg and orange zest and beat on low to medium speed. Slowly add in the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until the mixture is well-blended and uniform in color. Add in white chocolate chips and beat gently or stir to mix them in. Roll out 1 & 1/2 - 2 inch balls of cookie dough and place them a few inched apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes, then move the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. If cookies start to get hard, add a slice of bread to the container to help soften them.

These cookies are light, sweet, and citrus-y—perfect for the spring (and Easter day)! Enjoy with a cup of tea, a glass of milk, or alongside all of your Easter candy.

Recipe: Coconut-Lime White Chocolate Truffles

When I made the "Cowboy Caviar" yesterday, I saved the zest from the limes I used to flavor the dish with the thought that I'd make mini lime cheesecakes today. Plans changed, however, when I found this recipe for white chocolate truffles infused with lime and rolled in sweetened coconut. I changed the recipe a bit to create a more intense lime flavor and the results were creamy, decadent truffles with a punch of lime, coated in a beautiful mix of pure white shredded coconut and bright green lime zest.

Serves/Yields: 12-20 truffles (depending on how big you make them)
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes, plus the 4 or more hours required to let the white chocolate mixture chill
Cooking time: Just a few minutes required to bring the cream to a simmer twice
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp. heavy cream
• Zest of 3 limes (keep the zest of the third lime separate from the zest of the other two limes)
• 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 9 ounces white chocolate chips
• 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• A pinch (seriously, just a tiny bit) salt

Directions
In a small pot, combine the heavy cream and lime zest and heat over medium high heat until the mixture begins to simmer and bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and immediately cover the pot with a lid and let the mixture steep for 10-15 minutes (this will allow the lime zest to infuse the cream with its flavor).
In the meantime, add the white chocolate, butter, and pinch of salt to a microwaveable dish and heat it in the microwave for 1 minute.
When the 10-15 minutes of steeping is over, remove the lid from the pot of lime zest and cream and bring the mixture once again starts to bubble around the edges. Remove the simmering mixture from heat and stir in the fresh lime juice. Pour the cream mixture through a strainer into the bowl of white chocolate and butter and, with a spoon, press the lime zest against the holes of the strainer to push through any last bit of lime juice. Whisk together the cream and white chocolate mixture until it is smooth and creamy. Cover the dish with a tight-fitting lid or plastic/cling wrap and place in refrigerator to chill, for 4 hours or more (the chocolate must be chilled in order to be easily handled when rolling it into truffle ball shapes later).
While the mixture is chilling, finely chop the coconut (by hand or with a food processor) and add the zest of a third lime to the mixture. Gently toss the mixture until the coconut and lime zest are well blended.
Once the chocolate mixture has chilled enough and can be handled without melting or smearing easily, use a teaspoon to scoop out some of the mixture and roll it between your hands until a small ball forms (about 1 inch in size). Repeat until the mixture is gone—you should be able to make at least 12 truffles (the original recipe said it would make 12, but I managed to make 21, and they were still a good size). Roll the truffles in the coconut and lime zest mixture and serve.
Keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Best served at room temperature.

These truffles are incredibly creamy and rich and the coconut and lime zest coating add texture. The intense lime flavor is so summery and fresh and the white chocolate makes these truffles very sweet.