Chocolate Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Rich Cocoa Powder Enhances a Classic Scottish Shortbread Recipe
Dec 23, 2008
The shortbread cookie is one of Scotland's great gifts to the culinary world. In the recipe that follows, the buttery, crumbly cookies are further enhanced with the addition of cocoa powder, which gives the shortbreads an appealing brown color and rich chocolate flavor.
Shortbreads store well in an airtight container, so the recipe can be baked up to a week or more ahead of time. The quantities can also easily be doubled or triple to yield extra batches for giving as cookie gifts.
Scottish Chocolate Shortbreads
Makes 32 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, light, and fluffy.
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the all-purpose and self-rising flours, cocoa powder, and salt.
- With a pastry blender, gradually cut the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, adding just enough to make a firm but soft dough.
- Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface. Gently and briefly knead the dough just until it feels smooth.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Gently and evenly press each portion into an ungreased 9-inch-square baking pan. With a fork, prick the surface of the dough all over.
- Bake the shortbread just until it is lightly browned, no more than about 1 hour.
- Remove the baking pan from the oven and, with the tip of a table knife, score the shortbread, cutting down no deeper than about a quarter of the way through it, to form 16 equal shortbread fingers per pan, each measuring 1 by 4 inches.
- Let the shortbread cool and harden in the pan. Then, invert the pan onto a cutting board to unmold the shortbread. Break the shortbread into individual fingers. Store in an airtight container.
Chocolate-dipped shortbread variation: For a delicious variation, melt some chopped milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate in a bowl set over very warm water. Then, dip each shortbread finger partially into the melted chocolate and leave it to set on a sheet of waxed paper.
Enjoy the cookies with a cup of morning coffee, with afternoon tea, or as an after-dinner treat with a mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.
Looking for more great cookie or pastry recipes? Check out Easy Pecan Butter Cookies, Chocolate White-Chocolate-Chip Cookies, or Classic Peanut Butter Cookies.
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