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Saturday, January 6, 2018

Salted Butter & Chocolate Chunk Shortbread


Apparently, this is the "cookie of the year" from 2017. So, I'm a little late to the game. But I kept coming across this recipe from Alison Roman's new cookbook Dining In on various sites (e.g., Smitten KitchenBon Appetit, etc.) and decided it was time to try it myself. These cookies highlight the best parts of cookies without a lot of extra distractor flavors. They are simple, but deeply rich in flavor and highlight the good quality salted butter and dark chocolate. I recommend getting good chocolate and chopping it yourself. Beware: this is not your everyday chocolate chip cookie, so don't expect it to be. It's a horse of a different color, but in an excellent way. Makes 24-30 cookies.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup plus 2 TBS good salted butter, cold and cut into small pieces (I used this)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
1/4 cup light brown sugar (50 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (295 grams)
6 oz. of semisweet/bittersweet chocolate chunks (170 grams)
1 large egg
Raw or turbinado sugar (for rolling)
Flakey sea salt

Using a stand mixer beat together the cold butter pieces, both sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed (this might take 5 minutes). Add the flour and beat just until combined. Add the chocolate chunks and stir to incorporate. The dough will be crumbly and that is just fine. At this point, the dough is DONE (don't add the egg! it's for later). Separate the dough into two parts and place each half in the middle of a piece of wax or parchment paper and roll into logs about 2 inches in diameter. Chill, covered in the wax paper, until firm-- about 2-3 hours, or longer.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, slightly beat the egg and brush the entire log with egg and then roll in the raw sugar to coat. Then, using a serrated knife (I used a bread knife for the weight), slice cookies about 1/2 inch thick. You'll need to use a slow and stead sawing motion. You will likely hit chocolate chunks and might have to put the dough back together a bit if it crumbles or breaks in half. Thats okay. Place cookies on the baking sheets, sprinkle with a little flakey sea salt, then bake for about 13-15 minutes until edges are lightly brown. Remove from oven, let cool, then serve and enjoy!

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