It’s been an insane couple of weeks up in here. No time to sleep, cook, clean, bake, blog, or breathe! It’s all go go go go go and then come to a screeching halt at the end of the day when I climb into bed, exhausted out of my mind, say a few words to the Husband who I haven’t seen all day, try to turn my brain off to sleep and then I wake up and start all over again.

I needs me a holiday.

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving tomorrow and what I’m thankful for is the long weekend. Although, three days ain’t long enough. Just sayin’. Ok, I’ve got to stop complaining. Because for this week’s Sunday Supper, the theme is the colour orange – our task, to cook or bake with an ingredient that possesses this bright, vibrant hue.

Months ago, I was grabbing a coffee downstairs from my office and a beautiful orange white chocolate chip cookie was staring at me from the glass case. Of course, I stared right back at it, hungrily, adoringly, hell, downright lavisciously. It was kind of obscene how badly I wanted it. But this was during a period when I was actually working out and had some measure of self-control. I wrenched myself away from the glass case and fled the sugar/butter bomb that was whispering my name.

Plus I didn’t want to pay the money for one cookie. Y’all know how incredibly cheap I am. I can make dozens and dozens of them at home! And I was already thinking of ways to make that cookie even more cram-packed with amazingness.

So, I searched for a good macadamia nut cookie recipe to build on and found this one at Cookie Madness, where Anna does amazing things with butter, sugar and chocolate.

Orange Macadamia Dark Chocolate Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one large or two small oranges
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nutes, toasted first
1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips/chunks/chopped up chocolate bar, whatever your heart desires!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Zest your orange(s) and add the zest to the granulated sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar to infuse it with all that lovely orange flavour.

Cream the butter with both sugars. Add in vanilla, almond, eggs and orange juice. Sift together the cake flour and salt. Add it to the butter mixture.

Add in the chopped macadamia nuts and chocolate.

Let me rant a little about how bloody expensive macadamia nuts are! I thought I was being clever buying in bulk but since I obviously have ZERO idea how much things actually weigh, I ended up buying $11.00 worth of nuts. These are expensive cookies, people. But nothing is too good for my greedy stomach.


I tested a bit of the dough, just to make sure it had enough orange flavour. It tasted damn good, I can assure you!

After the dough has come together, drop spoonfuls onto your baking sheets and bake for 12-16 minutes. Keep a close eye on them – you don’t want them to be overbaked. I pulled mine out of the oven as soon as they were a deep golden on the edges and only lightly golden on top.


I let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, then transferred them to wire cooling racks.


Verdict? These were exactly the cookie that I was craving all those months ago, staring into that glass case. Because I used the zest of two oranges and added the orange juice, there was a pronounced citrus flavour. Every bite yielded the crunch of the macadamia nuts and their smooth, buttery taste. And of course, what goes better with orange than dark chocolate? The edges of the cookies were crisp and the centers were chewy, exactly as a perfect cookie should be.

I’m a very happy girl. Who wouldn’t be with a pile of these decadent cookies?

The lovely Pam from The Meltaways is our host today.  Make sure to check out her blog as well as this amazing line-up for delicious, mouth-watering dishes all made from something orange!

Sunrise  (Breakfast and Brunch)

Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes is bringing her Orange Ricotta Pancakes

Erin from Dinners Dishes and Desserts is baking up some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Heather from Girlichef is bringing Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Buttermilk Glaze

Nicole from Daily Dish Recipes is making Pumpkin Donut Puffs

Patti from Comfy Cuisine is bringing  Classic Orange Marmalade

Sunithi from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz is making Spiced Pumpkin Ricotta Muffins with Craisins and Walnuts

Wendy from The Weekend Gourmet is cooking up some Pumpkin Maple Oatmeal

Jamie from Mama Mommy Mom is bringing Butternut Squash Butter

Chelsea from Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence is bringing Pumpkin Spiced Donuts with Chai Icing

Kris from In The Kitchen With Audrey and Maureen made Sweet Potato Pancakes 

High Noon (Soups, Salads and Sandwiches)

Renee from Magnolia Days is serving up some Butternut Squash Soup

Beate from Galactopdx is bringing her Carrot Ginger Soup

Jen from Juanita’s Cocina is making some Curried Sweet Potato Salad With Cranberries and Pecans

Megan from I Run For Wine is making Skinny Roasted Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage Soup

Sarah from What Smells So Good is filling our bowls with some Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Alice from Hip Foodie Mom is coming with her Roasted Carrot and Red Quinoa Salad

Susan from The Wimpy Vegetarian is making Cider – Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

Tora from Tora’s Real Food is bringing Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup

Melanie from From Fast Food to Fresh Food is making Monty’s Pumpkin Soup

Lyn from The Lovely Pantry is bringing Roasted Pumpkin & Coconut Soup

Kim from Cravings of a Lunatic is whipping up some Mandarin Chicken Salad

Sunset (Dinner and Main Dishes)

Sarah from Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends is offering up some Pumpkin Ravioli

Shelia from Pippis In The Kitchen Again is serving her Roasted Squash and Ricotta with Honey

Pam from The Meltaways is making Spooky Stuffed Peppers

Patsy from Famfriendsfood is bringing her Carrot Souffle

Laura from Small Wallet Big Appetite is bringing Chicken and Sweet Potato Fritters

Mehereen from Chattering Kitchen is making Sichuan Orange Glazed Chicken with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Tammi from Momma’s Meals is making Hearty Pork Stew

Kristin from Kwistin’s Favorites is making Orange Chicken

Soni from Soni’s Food For Thought is cooking up some Rigatoni with Pumpkin Ricotta Sauce

Shelby from Diabetic Foodie is cooking up some Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Dara from Generation Y Foodie is bringing Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Brandie from Home Cooking Memories is sharing a DIY Baked Sweet Potato Bar

Amber from Mama’s Blissful Bites  is bringing Rice and Fig Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

Valerie from Val’s Food and Or Art made Double Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash

By The Bonfire (Sweets, Snacks and Sips)

Brie from Brie’s Bites is making Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bites

Carla from Chocolate Moosey is making Pumpkin Tiramisu with Pumpkin Butter Caramel Sauce

Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks is offering up some Pumpkin Cake Truffles

Shelia from Cooking Underwriter is bringing Sweet Potato Bacon Beet Salsa

Anne from Webicurean  is making some Drunken Pumpkin Bread

Karen from In The Kitchen With KP is making Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Leslie La Cocina De Leslie is making Sweet Potato Atole

Seet Fei from My Trials in The Kitchen is bringing Sweet Potatoes Mini Balls

Tara from Noshing With The Nolands is bringing Oranges En Suprise

Susan from The Girl in The Red Kitchen is making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scone with Pumpkin Glaze

Conni from Mrs. Mama Hen is making Orange Glazed Poundcake

Isabel from Family Foodie is baking up Moist Pumpkin Bread

Cindy from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings is baking up a Vegan Pumpkin Orange Cake

Brenda from Meal Planning Magic is whipping up some Creamy Pumpkin Dip

Laura from Family Spice is making some Unprocessed and Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Kathya from Basic and Delicious is baking up Butternut Squash and Carrot Bread

Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake is serving up Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Stephanie from The Cookie A Day Challenge is whipping up some Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches

Katie from She Like Ruffles, He Likes Truffles is bringing Pumpkin Harvest Cookies

Nancy from Gotta Get Baked is baking up some Orange Macadamia Dark Chocolate Cookies

Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  is bringing Orange Soda Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

Katy from Happy Baking Days is bringing Carrot Cake with Orange Glaze

Sandra from Midlife Road Trip is bringing Orange ya glad it’s fall! Hungarian Apricot/Walnut pastries

Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper.

We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm(Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper  live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite recipes featuring our favorite fall color.

All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat.

We’d also love to feature your easy go to recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers, too.