The other day my friend Phyllis came over for coffee and snacks. Phyllis and I went to high school together, have numerous mutual friends, and our paths have happily crossed over the years. A few months ago one of these shared friends mentioned that Phyllis has a beautiful blog called Dash and Bella about cooking adventures with her kids. I found her site and loved it. Before long, she and I bonded about the joys of food, photography, and blogging. Phyllis has become is my go-to buddy in navigating this strangely wonderful food blogosphere - my husband refers to our friendship as a "blog-mance."
Why am I telling you about Phyllis, you might ask. Well, when she came over for coffee she brought with her the hunk of chocolate you see below. Another food-loving friend clued me in to this delectable salted chocolate shortbread: again a winning dessert recipe from A16 Food +Wine.
SEA SALT and CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD
from A16 Food + Wine by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren
- 1 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour (GF folks, I use Pamela's Bread and Flour Blend)
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, organic if possible
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temp
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt (GF folks, use only 1/2 teaspoon salt because the Pamela's flour is salted)
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set aside.
Using a paddle attachment for your mixer, blend sugar and butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until pale and smooth. Switch speed to low and slowly add sifted cocoa mixture until thoroughly integrated. Gently add chopped chocolate, vanilla, and sea salt.
Separate dough into two balls. Roll each ball into a log about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour or so until the dough is firm.
Preheat oven to 300. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Slice dough into 1/4 inch rounds. Spread out rounds on parchment at least 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake for 7 minutes. Rotate pan. Bake another 7-10 minutes depending on how soft you like your cookies. Cool on a rack and the cookies will firm up as they cool. Enjoy with a glass of milk.
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since I'm crazy about chocolate, I'm putting these on my 'to do' list! they look super yummy.
ReplyDeleteThanks M. I hope you like the cookies as much as we do. They are dangerously easy to make.
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing. I really love chocolate and salt!
ReplyDeleteoh wow. those cookies look so amazing. what a perfect thing you did with that chocolate. i could gobble up the raw dough. and what a spectacular set of photos. when i get back west i'm making these cookies with the remaining chocolate. and thanks for all your kind words. it's a honor to be featured on your blog.
ReplyDeleteYummmmy! And, a GF version. You rock. If it wasn't so late I'd be baking these puppies right now. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to make these! I was asked to bring something to a baby shower this weekend and I think this is it - won't everyone be impressed?
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! My Mom and I make shortbread for gift-giving every holiday season but we haven't thought about adding chocolate-we will definitely be trying this recipe soon!
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled upon this blog and can hardly believe this- sea salt and chocolate shortbread? Does life get better than this? I'm so excited to make this! Your blog is beautiful and very well organized. I'll be back.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the kind words!
ReplyDeleteYUM!! These cookies look great as our headline photo today ;-)
ReplyDeleteRefrigerator Soup, thanks for the shout-out!
ReplyDeleteWow...these look beautiful. I'm making these for a friend. I'll let you know how they turn out!
ReplyDeleteAdrianna I hope you and your friend like them and I'd love to hear what you think.
ReplyDeleteWe are so addicted to these cookies at my house that we keep a roll in the freezer to bake whenever the craving strikes. In fact we baked some this morning.
I made these last weekend and they were so yummy! I used Sweet Tree Evaporated Palm Sugar, which is a little less sweet than regular sugar. They were great.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I think you have a typo on the directions about mixing the butter and sugar together ("blend sugar and cream on medium speed").
BEAUTIFUL blog. Very inspiring.
Thank you!
Jenna, thanks for the nice comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the cookies. We LOVE them around here. I am going to have to try your Palm Sugar idea.... I am always interested in ways to consume less sugar without sacrificing flavor.
ReplyDeleteThanks for noting the typo - I just corrected it:)oops.
Hey, Erin, you're welcome! I've been doing lots of experimenting with sugar alternatives -- palm sugar is a favorite, especially because it is evaporated and therefore way less processed.
ReplyDeleteOthers I've experimented with: stevia, Lankanto (from Body Ecology), xylitol/birch sugar, honey, agave.
These days mostly I just stick with Palm Sugar and try not to use too much of it or have it too often...
Loving your posts.
I have the A 16 book which is fantastic and the cookies turned out great. However following the exact same recipe my dough turned out to be a little crumbly so when i was trying to slice them with a nice they used to break apart. Any suggestions for this?
ReplyDeleteVarun, sorry to be delayed in replying. I am on a remote Fijian island and the internet is so spotty.
ReplyDeleteA couple of thoughts....
- When I make these cookies, if the dough is too cold/frozen, the cookies will crack a bit when I slice them. I find if I simply use my fingers to mend the split, the cookies are perfect when cooked.
- Another idea... you may want to use just a bit less flour and see if the dough is less crumbly.
I hope this helps - the cookies are some of our favorites and I hope they work for you next time.
Cheers!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI just pat them back too by hand and they are fine only they look a little crude. What I tried with a good amount of success was to add some corn syrup and make the dough slightly softer. After this I sliced it and used a cookie cutter to make even circles. I know its too much work but looks professional.
Cheers
Varun, thanks for the detailed feedback... it is always appreciated!
ReplyDeleteBest,
E