Chocolate Covered Shortbread Food

CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIE LOGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• Cream together butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Mix in the flour, and then one cup of the chocolate chips. Shape dough into 2x1/2 inch logs. Place logs 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in preheated oven, or until firm. Let cookies cool completely before removing from pan (shortbread is brittle).
• Melt the remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and shortening over a double boiler, stirring frequently until smooth. Dip one end of each cookie into the chocolate, then into the nuts. Place onto waxed paper until set.

DOUBLE-DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Beat the butter with the icing sugar using an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and flour (the mixture will stiffen and look like crumble as the flour is added). Add the milk and keep beating until the mixture softens and sticks together (add some more milk if needed).
• Scoop the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe swirled rings onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. If the mixture is too stiff to pipe easily, you can roll the dough into balls and put them on the sheet instead. The cookies will spread as they cook so don't worry if there's a small gap in the centre of the piped swirls, but ensure there is enough space between each cookie so they don't stick together as they cook. Bake for 15 mins, or until lightly golden, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Put the white and milk chocolate in separate bowls and microwave each in 20-second bursts until melted. Dip the cookies into each chocolate, milk at one end and white on the other, then let any excess drip off before returning them to the rack to set. Will keep in an airtight tin for up to four days.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar, add flour and vanilla.
• Pinch of 1/2" balls of dough, roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet.
• Use the tines of a fork to flatten cookies.
• Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.
• Remove from baking sheet, cool 10-15 minutes.
• Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate.
• Chill to set chocolate.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla with spoon. Stir in flour. (If dough is crumbly, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened.)
• Roll dough 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into small shapes by hand or use cookie cutters. Place 1/2 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until set and bottoms are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on High 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted; stir until smooth. Dip half of each cooled cookie into melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper until chocolate is set.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD FINGERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 5 mins until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until fully incorporated.
• Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, and fold into the mixture using a spatula until combined (the dough should have a tacky consistency). Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle. If all the mixture doesn't fit, do it in 2 batches.
• Pipe 10cm long, 1.5cm wide fingers onto the baking sheets, making sure there are 3cm spaces between each finger. Bake for 8-10 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through the cooking time, until pale golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for a few mins, then transfer to wire racks.
• Melt the chocolate separately over a pan of gently simmering water (making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water) or in the microwave in short bursts, stirring every 15 secs or so. Dip 1 end of the shortbread fingers into the bowl of milk chocolate and the other end in the white chocolate. Leave to set on baking parchment before serving.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• 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.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 325°F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt at medium speed just until smooth. Add flour and mix at low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and shape into 2 disks.
• On lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 piece dough to 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Using fluted pastry wheel or large knife, cut into 2- by 1-inch rectangles. Transfer cookies to baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Prick each cookie several times with tines of fork, then chill 10 minutes. Bake until edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes, then transfer to racks and cool completely.
• To decorate: Line baking sheet with clean parchment or wax paper. In medium heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water, melt half chocolate. Add remaining chocolate, remove bowl from heat, and stir occasionally until smooth. Pour into small bowl.
• Dip each cookie halfway into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on baking sheet. Let stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Store in airtight container at room temperature. (Do not refrigerate.)

CHOCOLATE DIPPED SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170C (fan forced) about 185/190C for conventional.
• Cream butter and caster sugar together until fluffy.
• Toss in the flour, baking powder and vanilla essence and mix till combined.
• Place spoonfulls of mixture onto a lined baking tray and lightly press with a fork to flatten a little if you like.
• Bake in oven fir 15 to 20 minutes (my friend set hers for 12 minutes and kept a check from then - her oven tends to be hot - and reconed they were perfect at 16 to 18 minutes - won't disagree with her on that).
• Allow to cool and then drizzle over with the melted chocolate of choice.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED SHORTBREAD CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and cold butter. Cut the butter using a pastry blender. Now, use your hands to combine the butter and flour until it gets coarse and mealy OR just pulse all of these in a food processor for 1-2 pulses or until crumbly. Add a few teaspoons of ice-cold water to bring it all together and make a soft dough.If you're making the cookie dough in the food processor, then after pulsing the mixture, get it out in a bowl. Add a tablespoon or two of ice cold water and bring it all together to make a cookie dough. The cookie dough should be come together easily and should be soft to touch.Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and freeze the cookie dough for 10-minutes or Refrigerate for 1 hour. (Ideally it should be refrigerated for 1 hour or overnight, but if you're in a rush, just freeze it and then use it)
• After the cookie dough is chilled, roll it on a lightly floured surface to about 1-inch thickness. It will be hard to roll in the beginning, but keep rolling and it will spread gradually and evenly. Use a round shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and gently place them on a greased baking dish or a cookie baking dish lined with Parchment paper or silicone mat. Freeze the cookies uncovered for 5 more minutes. Meanwhile, Preheat your oven to 350F or 180C.
• Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. Once they are done, allow them to come down to room temperature on the same baking sheet. After some time, you can transfer it to a wire rack and allow them to cool down completely.
• Melt Dark chocolate or dark melting wafers in the oven at 30-second bursts whisking after each burst. After the cookies have cooled down, dip half of the cookies into the melted chocolate. Top with Christmas nonpareils sprinkles. Allow the chocolate to set for 5-minutes at room temperature and then serve.

CHOCOLATE-COVERED SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300˚. Lightly butter the bottom and side of a 9-inch fluted tart pan. Combine the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, confectioners' sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter and vanilla and pulse until the flour is moistened and the dough just begins to clump together.
• Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork, about 30 times.
• Bake until the shortbread is lightly browned and set in the center, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then sprinkle with the chopped chocolate. Let the chocolate soften, about 5 minutes, then spread into a thin layer with an offset spatula, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Top with nonpareils; let cool completely.
• Remove the tart from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into thin wedges.