Double Choc Shortbreads Food

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREADS

Steps:

• Mix the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon. Stir in the flour and cocoa, followed by the chocolate chips - you'll probably need to mix it together with your hands at this stage. Halve the dough and roll each piece into a log about 5cm thick. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hr or for several days. Can be frozen for up to 1 month.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slice logs into 1cm-thick rounds, transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 10-12 mins. Cool on the tray.

DOUBLE CHOC SHORTBREADS

Steps:

• Rub the butter into the flour to make crumbs, then stir in sugar, vanilla, yolks and chocolate chips and bring together to form a dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and stamp out 6cm round biscuits. Re-roll the trimmings and repeat. Arrange on parchment-lined trays and chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bake biscuits for 10-12 mins until golden. Cool. Spread each with white chocolate and leave to set. Decorate, or write on buyer's name with red icing on the spot, if you like.

CLASSIC SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-12-1/2-inch jelly roll pan and line it with parchment, then butter the paper.
• Whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat on low until the dough is just combined; do not overwork.
• Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, spreading it out as evenly as possible with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap, then use your hands to press and flatten the dough into a smooth even layer. Remove the plastic and cut the dough with a sharp knife into approximately 1-by-3-inch bars. Use a fork to prick a decorative pattern into the tops.
• Bake, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through, until golden, 60 to 70 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes in the pan, then re-cut the bars along the previous cuts. Carefully lift the bars off the parchment with a small spatula and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Combine butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla bean halves in a bowl. Beat on low speed until smooth. Gradually mix in sifted flour until incorporated and dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Do not overmix. Press dough evenly into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pale golden, about 18 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 to 12 minutes.
• While shortbread is cooling, preparing chocolate ganaches. Combine dark chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons cream in a small saucepan over low heat; cook and stir until melted and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat with white chocolate chips and remaining cream in a second saucepan. Be careful that the chocolate does not scorch.
• Drizzle both ganaches liberally over the shortbread using 2 spoons. Allow chocolate to cool and set, about 10 minutes. Cut shortbread into squares.

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.

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add flour, sugar, and cocoa; mix just until combined. (Chill dough in the refrigerator 10 minutes if it is too soft to handle.)
• Pat dough into an 8-inch round cake pan; press edges down with the tines of a floured fork. Bake until firm, 30 minutes. Immediately score into eight wedges; cool completely. Turn out of pan; break wedges apart. Decorate with icing.

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.

THE BEST SHORTBREAD COOKIES FOUR WAYS

Steps:

• All of the shortbreads are made in the same manner using an electric mixer. If you're making a shortbread with two kinds of flour, whisk the flours together.
• Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, confectioners' sugar, salt and zest, if using, together on medium speed until soft, creamy and homogenous, scraping the bowl as needed. One by one, beat in the yolks, followed by the vanilla.
• Turn off the mixer, add the flour(s) all at once and mix on low speed only until incorporated. If you've got wheat germ, chocolate or flax seeds or nuts, mix in now.
• Scrape the dough out onto the work surface and divide it in two; the dough will be soft and sticky. Put each piece on a sheet of parchment and cajole it into a log that's 6 to 6 1⁄2 inches long, tightening the log with the paper and twisting the ends. Refrigerate the logs for at least 3 hours (overnight is better) or freeze them for 2 hours. (The logs can be frozen for up 2 months; slice when they're still frozen. You might need to add a minute to the oven time.)
• When you're ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
• Using a chef's knife, cut each log into 1⁄2-inch-thick rounds. Lay them out on the baking sheet, leaving about an inch between them.
• Bake, rotating the cookie sheet after 10 minutes, for 21 to 23 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and set. The cookies will still be soft, so leave them on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack and allowing them to cool to room temperature. DO AHEAD: The cookies can be packed in an airtight container and kept at room temperature for at least 5 days.