shortbread Archives - The Midnight Baker

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 23:00:41 +0000

These buttery and delicious chocolate dipped shortbread cookies will become a favorite.

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies–YUM!

You won’t find too many people who don’t like shortbread cookies. And we all know how well received chocolate is. In fact the only people I know that don’t eat it have an allergy.

These cookies are just awesome. They’re big and thick and buttery. That’s everything you want in a shortbread cookie. Now dipping the ends in a good dark chocolate really makes them go over the edge. Since these chocolate dipped shortbread cookies are large and thick, there’s not much guilt as one will probably satisfy.

Use A Good Chocolate

You’ll want to use a high-grade chocolate here. Semi sweet or dark is the way to go. I prefer dark and used a 60 per cent cacao variety. That level provides a nice but subtle bitterness that offsets the sweetness of the shortbread cookie. If you prefer a bolder bitterness, then go with 70 per cent cacao. It’s all a matter of personal taste.

I prefer to use a European chocolate because it’s silkier. That’s because it’s conched for much longer than we do in the US. Remember that Europeans are really, and I mean really are into their chocolate delights so they produce a superior product. There are good American varieties but do stay away from “bargain” brands. As an aside, Aldi has fantastic chocolate–I think it’s Belgian–so don’t overlook it.

Unsalted Butter?

Yes. It’s necessary for the best texture.

Unsalted butter produces a velvety smooth texture. Years ago my mom experimented with using salted butter. The shortbread was delicious but it had a grainy texture. It’s a textural thing; the taste is not affected. Most cooks/bakers I know always bake and cook with unsalted butter so I’m sure most have it on hand in the fridge.

The Recipe

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Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

Decadent and delicious

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Chill Time30

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate shortbread cookies, giant shortbread cookies

Servings: 20

Calories: 290kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3/4 lb unsalted butter 3 sticks,at room temperature
1 cup sugar plus extra for sprinkling
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate finely chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180C.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.

Nutrition

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Almond Sandies

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 23:00:00 +0000

Almond Sandies

These almond sandies are the perfect tea or coffee cookie. It contains an unbelievable secret ingredient too!

These cookies are addictive. They’re delicious–filled with toasty almonds and surprise–POTATO CHIPS!!!

Perfect tea or coffee cookie

The original recipe comes from Fine Cooking. I changed it slightly because I love almonds and anything almond flavored. The original uses vanilla and pecans…also an excellent choice.

First time I tasted potato chip cookies was about 20 years ago at a Christmas party. I would have sworn they were shortbread cookies, but the friend who baked them told me what was in them. I thought she was kidding because Barbara Davis (RIP) had a delicious sense of humor. But no, she wasn’t pulling my leg. I never forgot how good they were but never got around to making any.

The way I toast almonds (or any nuts) is I put them in a skillet and toast them over medium heat. Make sure you stir them frequently–and watch them. They appear to just sit there, then all of a sudden, start browning. This happens FAST so keep your eye on them. You can do them in the oven too–takes maybe 15 minutes, but I prefer the stovetop method since I can watch them better–and don’t forget them (as I’ve done in the oven).

Light and crunchy

It’s important here to weigh the flour so you get the proper amount called for in the recipe. There are too many variations in weight measuring by cups since it depends strongly on how you fill them. Flour should be stirred to aerate it first (whenever you measure flour–even if you weigh it) and the cups have to be filled very lightly. If you use a cup measure, it may NOT turn out nice and light and crunchy…so be warned!

To get uniform-sized balls, I use a drop cookie scoop. That looks like a small ice cream scoop. You can also use a large mellon baller.

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Almond Sandies

These almond sandies are the perfect tea or coffee cookie. It contains an unbelievable secret ingredient too!

Prep Time20

Cook Time12

Total Time32

Course: cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: almond cookies

Servings: 24

Calories: 150kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter softened, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
8 oz flour*
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted almonds
1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp butter

Instructions

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy.
Add the extract and beat well. Beat in the almonds, potato chips and flour, combining well.
Do not chill or freeze dough. Potato chips will get soggy and cookies won't set up properly.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2-inches apart on prepared sheets.
Lightly grease the bottom of a glass with the 1/4 tsp butter. Place 2 tbsp sugar in a small bowl. Dip the bottom of the glass into the sugar and press down each dough ball to about 1/4-inch thickness. Coat the bottom of the glass with the sugar for each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly brown. Let cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes before removing.
Makes about 24 cookies.

Notes

*Because of variations in how a "cup" is filled for flour, it's much better to weigh it for this recipe.

If you don't have a scale handy, measure flour by first stirring it and lightly spooning it into the measuring cup. The measure should be 1 7/8 cups done this way (NOT RECOMMENDED)

Nutrition

Almond Sandies

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Strawberry Shortbread

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 22 May 2014 23:00:00 +0000

Strawberry Shorbread

Not your traditional strawberry shortcake! This creamy layered dessert is based on a rich shortbread crust.

Yummy Strawberries

Love strawberry shortcake, strawberry cheesecake and shortbread? You’ll love this dessert!

Several of us content creators for a major culinary website were approached to develop a strawberry shortcake-like dessert for a leading berry producer. I was up to this challenge because I just love strawberries.

Honestly, I’m not much into strawberry shortcake though, but I do love strawberry cheesecake, so I based my dessert off that. And keeping with the “shortcake,” I decided to make a layered strawberries and cream dessert with a rich shortbread cookie crust.

Another angle to strawberry shortcake

Yes, the dessert is a little involved to make–there’s steps and a chilling process, but it’s easy to do. It’s just that there’s no instant gratification for this–waiting is involved!

I caution that it’s a bit messy to cut if you want perfect slices. Just cut with a wet and sharp knife and a offset spatula will help you remove the portions. But if it does fall apart, why worry? We’re going for taste here, not beauty!

Enjoy!

The Recipe

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Strawberry Shortbread

Not your traditional strawberry shortcake! This creamy layered dessert is based on a rich shortbread crust.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: SHORTBREAD, strawberries

Servings: 9

Calories: 295kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

CRUST

1 cup flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup 1 stick butter

CREAM FILLING

8 oz cream cheese softened
3 tbs confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk or half and half
1 tsp unflavored gelatin

STRAWBERRY LAYER

1 pkg 4-serving size strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup cold water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and confectioner's sugar; mix well. Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture. Cut in butter, as if you were making a pie crust--you can use a pastry blender, 2 knives or your hands. The mixture should look like small peas.
Press crust into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until crust begins to brown around edges. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Prepare cream filling: Place cream/milk in a heatproof container. Sprinkle unflavored gelatin on cream/milk. Let sit for 5 minutes to soften.
Beat cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until well blended.
Heat cream mixture in microwave until very hot--about 20 seconds. Stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.
Beat cream/gelatin mixture into cream cheese mixture. Pour on top of crust. Chill while preparing strawberry topping.
Strawberry topping: In a small bowl, mix strawberry gelatin with the hot water; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add cold water. Place bowl in refrigerator and chill until gelatin just begins to mound. It should look like congealed stock.
Add the sliced strawberries and stir well to distribute. Pour on top of cream cheese layer of dessert. Chill until very firm--about 4 hours.
When ready to serve, let dessert sit at room temperature about 5-10 minutes. Cut with a wet knife. Serve with whipped cream or whipped topping.

Nutrition

Strawberry Shortbread

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Linzer Tarts

Judith Hannemann — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The ultimate Christmas cookie. Leave some huge Linzer Tarts for Santa!

Linzer tarts are so traditional around the holidays! They’ve always been a part of my holiday baking.

These are quick and easy…very few ingredients. Mix, chill and roll and that’s it! It’s just a basic shortbread butter
cookie.

Linzer Tarts

I used regular seeded raspberry jam, but seedless works too.

What I did here to make them just a little bit more special was to drizzle some melted dark chocolate over the top. Nothing really beats a raspberry and chocolate combo. By all means leave off the drizzle if it’s too much of a good thing for you. And of course, they can be filled with ANY flavor jam you like.

Make sure to leave one for Santa! Yes, only one because they are huge. I used a 3-4 inch cutter, but you can make ’em smaller too.

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Linzer Tarts

Linzer tarts, also known as linzer cookies, are buttery shortbread with jam filling. A classic Christmas cookie recipe!

Prep Time25

Cook Time10

Total Time35

Course: desserts

Cuisine: Austrian

Keyword: Christmas cookies, linzer cookies, linzer tarts

Servings: 24

Calories: 169kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter* very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 cups flour

Filling:

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Topping:

1/2 cup chocolate chips high quality
1 tsp butter
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and almond extract. Beat well.
Add the flour and beat at low speed until a dough forms.
Form dough into a ball and place in a plastic bag. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut circles with a 3-inch diameter cookie cutter (I used a glass). Cut smaller holes in the center of HALF the cookies (I used a large bottle cap from a 3-litre soda bottle).
Alternatively, you can use a linzer tart cutter--it will make smaller cookies though.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies are "set" and just are beginning to get light golden brown around the edges.
Cool for 1 minute on the sheet and then remove to a rack to cool completely.
When cookies are completely cool, spread about 1 tbs of the raspberry preserves on the circles without the additional holes--and spread the jam on the side that was sitting on the cookie sheet because that is completely flat.
Top with a cookie with the hole in the center, again placing the side that was on the cookie sheet on the jam, forming a sandwich.
Melt chocolate chips and butter in a microwave. Microwave in 30-second intervals and stir. It will probably need about 1 minute total to melt. Stir until there are no lumps. Drizzle over the cookies.
Dust with powdered (confectioner's) sugar.

Notes

*You may substitute regular salted butter in a pinch but do NOT substitute margarine or butter-flavored Crisco.

Nutrition

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Brown Sugar Shortbread

Judith Hannemann — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:25:00 +0000

Brown Sugar Shortbread

Super
simple and delicious, with only 3 ingredients, these velvety
shortbreads will melt in your mouth. The dark brown sugar gives it that
wonderful hint of caramel.

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Brown Sugar Shortbread

Super simple and delicious, with only 3 ingredients, these velvety shortbreads will melt in your mouth. The dark brown sugar gives it that wonderful hint of caramel.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: brown sugar, SHORTBREAD

Servings: 36 cookies

Calories: 85kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 1/4 cups flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Gradually stir in flour and mix well.
Turn
dough out onto lightly-floured surface and knead until smooth. Place
dough on cookie sheet and pat into a rectangle about 1/3" thick
measuring approximately 11 x 8 inches. Cut into 2-inch by 1-inch
pieces. Prick each piece with fork.
Bake
at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until bottoms begin to get
lightly brown. Cool on sheet 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool
completely.

Nutrition

Brown Sugar Shortbread

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