Shortbread au chocolat

I don't know about you, but when I see the word "shortbread" I think of a buttery, hard and crunchy type of cookie. If you have the same idea as I do, then I will tell you now, this recipe is not what you think it will be. But don't be alarmed, this "shortbread" is delicious! I actually think that it is more of what the British believe to be shortbread. The texture resembles more to a cake, but not as compact and moist, and it's a bit crumbly. The chocolate in this shortbread was actually pretty subtle, well at least to the richness of the chocolate in my last recipe. I have made 4 recipes from this book so far, and my boyfriend says that this is his favorite so far. Again, the picture that I have might not be the most attractive, but mmmm they were good.


Recipe: Shortbread au chocolat

Remember, these recipes are coming from a French dessert book entitled, "Biscuits et Petits Gateaux." All the ingredients are easily found in France, so it is possible that if you are somewhere else, you can have difficulty finding ingredients. Also, I am translating the directions from French to English, so I apologize for awkward statements

Preparation: 20 minutes // Baking: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
100 grams (7 tablespoons) of unsalted butter
70 grams (5 tablespoons) of salted butter
170 grams (3/4 cup + 1/8 cup) brown sugar (this is NOT molasses brown sugar like we are used to in the states, it is like raw sugar)
340 grams (3 cups + a little bit more) of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Preparation of ingredients:

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F (180 degrees C). Sift 340 grams of flour into a mixing bowl to eliminate all the clumps. Add 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 170 grams of brown sugar and mix. Cut 100 grams of unsalted butter and 70 grams of salted butter into little cubes and place them on a plate to the side.

Making the dough:

Add the pre-cut butter cubes and 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder to the flour mix. With your fingers mix all the ingredients together so that it the dough is nicely blended and becomes crumbly. Now, butter a cookie sheet.

Molding the shortbread:

Remove and save 1/4 of the dough and put it to the side. Add 1 egg to the remaining dough and mix together until it is well compacted. Move the dough onto the cookie sheet and pat it out, forcing it to form into the shape of a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Take the crumbly dough that was saved and cover the top, pressing down the dry dough into the wet dough.

Cooking the shortbread:

With a knife, cut the raw dough into rectangles or squares of your choice of size and dimensions. Put it in the oven and allow it to bake for 30 minutes. After it is finished, let it cool down a bit and then they are ready!


** petit warning **

The flour in France is different than the flour in America. I know this from experience with attempting American treats in France with their ingredients. Flour in France tends to make things a lot fluffier. Please, however, don't hesitate to use the flour that you know best - I am still interested if those across the seas can make these French recipes. This is just to warn you in case your shortbread comes out differently than you expected, in that case, it is probably not you.