Chocolate-Dipped Chocolate Shortbread

We’re fast approaching one of those holidays we can’t ignore.  Valentine’s Day.  We can’t ignore it because, well… there seem to be pink and red heart sprinkles on everything, and a Sunday night dinner reservation is 100% impossible.  Every waiter or server, current or past, shudders at the mention of this day, wherein, you will likely be asked to place an engagement ring atop a slice of cheesecake, set the dessert down in front of a lucky lady and then run run run as fast as you can as to not get tied up in engagement words.  

However you’re spending the love holiday, I hope there is a good dose of chocolate in it.  

Chocolate.  Not exclusive to this Valentine’s holiday, but appropriate.  Necessary, really… for everyday. 

This cookie recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart whose recipes, I’ll just say it… are sometimes great and sometimes suspicious. 

Her chocolate shortbread recipe comes together in a food processor and I love an excuse to use my Kitchen Aid 9-cup food processor.  Cold butter (we don’t even have to wait for room temperature timing), flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt (vanilla sea salt if you have it), powdered sugar, and an egg yolk specially for binding.  Martha doesn’t call for an egg yolk and… I do.  I’m a baker, too.  I’ll add an egg yolk if I think I should.  

With some blending in the food processor, we have dough!  

It’ll be moist, just slightly sticky, but firm. The dough is wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for 30 minutes to rest and firm.  

The dough is rolled out between two pieces of parchment paper.  Lightly floured parchment.  This way the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin and we still get wonderfully thin cookie dough.  

Sprinkled lightly with sugar and cut into circles.  You can use a heart-shaped cutter if you’re feeling the love.  Use a thin spatula to transfer the cookie to a parchment lined cookie sheet.  

While the cookies bake to firm, milk chocolate is melted.  White chocolate is also completely reasonable. 

Oh!  These cookies would make really great sandwich cookies!  Get a peanut butter buttercream up in these STAT.  Why am I just now thinking of this!?  

Dipped half in milk chocolate and sprinkled with a pinch of vanilla sea salt, because I can’t help my self.  

These cookies are crisp and durable.  Lovely for dipping and dunking.  Lovely for a buttercream filling or a small scoop of ice cream.  Other dippable favorites?  See: Dipped and Crisp Peanut Butter Cookies.  

I love you, k bye. 

Chocolate-Dipped Chocolate Shortbread

• Author: Joy the Baker
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 25
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 18 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped and melted

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Instructions

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment, combie flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Add butter, vanilla, and egg yolk and process until mixture comes together into a moist ball. Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Lightly flouring the bottom piece of partchment paper. Roll to 1/4 inch thick. Use a 2 1/2-inch round or heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out dough and use a thin spatula to transfer cookies to the prepared baking pan.
4. Bake cookies until firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks.
5. Melt milk chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave, heating for 30 second intervals, removing the bowl to stir the chocolate and repeat until the chocolate is completely melted.
6. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate. Sprinkle with sea salt or sprinkles and allow to rest for 30 minutes to harden the chocolate. Stir in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.

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