Orange Shortbread Cookie Sticks (Gluten Free)

Chocolate dip:

If your melted chocolate is too thick and viscous, add 1-2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil to loosen it up. You want to be able to achieve an even, fairly thin layer of chocolate on the shortbread.
Tip: Ideally, use tempered chocolate. See the Notes section of this recipe for tips on how to easily temper your chocolate.
Transfer the melted chocolate into a narrow glass or other narrow container that will give you a deep layer of chocolate (you want to be able to dip at least half of a cookie stick into chocolate).
Dip the cookie sticks into the melted chocolate. After dipping, gently shake them to help any excess chocolate to drip away, then transfer the chocolate-dipped cookie sticks onto a lined baking sheet.
For extra decoration, transfer any remaining chocolate into a piping bag (re-melt it if necessary) and use it to pipe zig-zag lines over the chocolate-dipped end of the cookie stick.
Alternatively, you can also decorate them with sprinkles of choice.

Storage:

The gluten free orange shortbread cookie sticks keep well in a closed air-tight container in a cool dry place for about 1-2 weeks.

NOTES

Tempering the chocolate: To get a glossy finished look on your chocolate-dipped cookie sticks with no “blooming” (white streaks in the chocolate), I recommend tempering your chocolate. A quick way of doing this is to melt about 75% of the chocolate, finely chop up the remaining 25% and add it to the melted chocolate. Mix well until all the chocolate is fully melted. This is called the “seeding method”, where the chopped chocolate (in temper) encourages the melted chocolate to crystallise correctly, to give a glossy finish with a “snap” to it as you bite into it. Make sure that your chocolate is cooled down to about 86-90ºF (30-32ºC) before you start dipping the cookie sticks.