Do you ever get any late night cravings? I surely do and they are usually in the form of cookies. I already professed my love of cookies last week. But when I have them as a late night snack this love takes a whole new meaning.

You usually don’t need much to satisfy a late night craving which makes a cookie the perfect candidate. Although I bake them quite often, my late night choice is usually Pepperidge Farm Orange Milanos.

Perfectly portioned they are light and delicate and perfectly buttery and chocolatey with that dash of orange that makes you go hmmmm. A couple followed by a glass of water (sorry…don’t do milk) is enough to help me rest easy for the remainder of the night and send me off to sweet dream land.

The next best thing to Pepperidge Farm Orange Milanos are these Orange Scented Chocolate Chip Cookies. To a chocolate chip cookie purist’s horror, I enjoy mine with more than just chocolate chips. The walnuts and orange zest in these give them incredible depth of flavor and have elevated them to now be my favorite chocolate chip cookie. And a darn good late night snack.

Sweet Dreams.

Orange Scented Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted From: You Made That Dessert?
Yield: 36 Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups (9.9 ounces) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) sugar
1 cup (8.4 ounces) packed dark brown sugar
Zest of 1 medium orange
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
10 ounces dark chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract, then beat in the eggs. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a flexible spatula, then beat again until uniform.

Add half of the flour mixture to to the butter mixture and beat with the mixer on low speed, or stir well with a wooden spoon to combine. Repeat with the other half of the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chunks and nuts with a wooden spoon (the batter will be very thick).

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scoop or two teaspoons, scoop out balls of dough and place them about an inch apart on the cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies for about 12 to 15 minutes, until they just look dry on top. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and place on a wire rack for 2 minutes, then gently remove the cookies and place them directly on the rack to cool. You can use the same sheets of parchment to bake the remaining batches of cookies.