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Salted Butter & Choc. Chunk Shortbread

Source of Recipe

Alison Roman via jedovaty at eGullet.org


Recipe Introduction

Delicious cookies. And easy to make. You can make the dough up to a week ahead. I learned when making the Jacques Torres chocolate chic cookies that letting a dough ‘cure’ for a couple of days improves the flavor, so I made the dough 3 days ahead of time. For the chocolate chunks, I used Choceur dark chocolate from Aldi. The small (1.4 oz.) bars come in 5 packs. They are very easy to cut up into chunks and the extra one ounce of chocolate is fine. I was surprised to find no leavening in the recipe and double checked to make sure – nope. Another thing that surprised me was using COLD butter. I’d never seen that before, but I checked and it is correct – not that uncommon, actually.

Recipe Link: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/salted-butter-and-chocolate-chunk-shortbread

List of Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) cold salted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces (258 grams)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (281 grams)
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped (but not too fine, you want chunks, not thin shards of chocolate)
1 large egg, beaten to blend
Demerara sugar (for rolling)
Flaky sea salt



Recipe

Beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer with the paddle on medium-high speed until light and fluffy – about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Lower the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour, then the chocolate chunks. Beat just until blended.

Divide the dough in half, form into a log (about 2 – 2 1/4” diameter) with flat ends and wrap in plastic wrap. I found that slightly dampening my hands helped it not to stick. Chill until firm – about 2 hours up to 1 week (see note above).

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg and brush the outside of each dough roll with the egg. Then roll in demerara sugar. Slice into 1/2-inch thick rounds and place on baking sheets about 1-inch apart. Sprinkle with the sea salt. Bake just until the edges are beginning to brown – about 12-15 minutes. Cool slightly on the sheet pan then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes about 28 cookies.