thayirsaadham

Hey all,

When I was young, I used to read a lot of books by Enid Blyton. Famous Five, Secret Seven, St.Clare’s, Malory Towers. I loved them all. I was particularly enamored by the Famous Five series. These kids had their own island for crying out loud. And oh boy! The adventures they had in those books. The closest I have ever come to an adventure is when my dad and I would try to steal the cashew nuts from under my mother’s really really sharp eyes and nose. She hates it when she runs out of cashews when she is about to make a payasam and finds out that we have simply eaten all the cashews. Hell hath no fury like a woman who finds out she is out of cashews.

But I digress. The main reason for my craze with that series - the food! The English sure know how to eat - scones, clotted cream, shortbread, ginger beer, icecreams… I could go on and on. Except for ice creams, I had no idea how the rest would taste or even look. Unlike now, there was no way to go online and look for images for these food items. (Typing that makes me feel old. Do kids nowadays realize how blessed they are with internet? ). I somehow knew all these would taste awesome. Up until recently, I thought shortbread was something similar to a bread - maybe smaller in size. Literal? yeah… that’s me. According to Wikipedia,

“Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture (from an old meaning of the word short). The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter.”

The mention of butter sold me. I looked for shortbread recipes and I found the recipe for espresso-chocolate chip shortbread in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours . I made minor changes to the recipe.

* I did not add espresso powder as I did not want to make this with the coffee flavor the first time. But the next time I bake this (oh yeah.. there will be a next time), I will add the espresso powder.
* Also, I did not have any mini chocolate chips and hence added regular chips. But I would suggest going with the mini chips. You need to roll the dough and then cut it into squares. Mini chips will make it easier while rolling and while cutting. Otherwise, the square boundaries might span the area of a chip and it gets messy. Not a huge problem. But just wanted to give a heads-up.

The recipe says you can get 32 cookies. I got around 40 cookies. I guess I rolled my dough a little thinner than instructed.

Rolled out cookie dough

Ingredients

1. Instant espresso powder - 1 tablespoon ( I skipped this)
2. Boiling water - 1 tablespoon (I skipped this)
3. Unsalted butter - 2 sticks (8 ounces) (at room temperature)
4. Confectioners’ sugar - 2/3 cup
5. Pure vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
6. All-purpose flour - 2 cups
7. 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (plain, or a toffee variety), finely chopped, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
8. Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional - I did not use this)

Method
1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.
2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.
3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.
4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
5. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.
6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.
7. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

Shortbread before baking

These cookies taste awesome and are really easy to make. They are crumbly and they just melt in your mouth. All that butter helps. These keep well at room temperature in an air-tight container.And the rolling technique? So cool. I am actually thinking of doing it for my other cookies as it makes for really pretty even cookies. Usually my cookies are all of different sizes since I do not have a cookie scoop and I just end up plopping different sizes on the cookie sheet. I console myself by calling it the rustic look .

I am sending these shortbread cookies to Mahimaa’s Contribute Your Recipes Event - Cakes and Cookies.