Chocolate-coated Shortbread Cookies

The talk topics lately have been surrounding the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. Fortunately this year, I was able to catch the matches without having to wake (or stay up) in the wee hours since we're in the Central Time zone. Though I'm not really a football fan, it's somehow the only sports tournament I enjoy (or perhaps love) watching, and that would make me sacrifice my sleep (in the past) especially since it's only held every four years.

And for the same reason, I haven't been blogging lately since there were matches almost everyday during the past weeks. *Oops! So here's a quick recipe that I've made as my snack companion for my chilled diet soda or iced tea which I haven't been able to live without since Summer kicked in. Though I would prefer such seasonal Summer heat over the almost all-year "summer" weather experienced in Singapore (because it's not just hot but humid), I'm still very much overwhelmed by the scorching July sun. And yes, it has been a chilled beverage with snack during tea-time instead of my usual hot floral or green tea. ^_^ But be it a chilled or hot beverage, these cookies are a great treat for sure as you can simply grab and bite into it without taking your eyes off the "ball" on the screen, if you know what I mean. Hee~

Chocolate-coated Shortbread Cookies

I am sharing these Chocolate-coated Shortbread Cookies, one of my Summer tea-time snack companions with Treat Petite July 2014 theme, Summer hosted by Kat of The Baking Explorer and Stuart of Cakeyboi.

Chocolate-coated Shortbread Cookies
Recipe referenced and modified from: Food Network (Ina Garten)

Ingredients Required

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Bakeware Used

Large baking sheet

Preparation Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar using an electric mixer until they are just combined. Add the vanilla and mix well.
3. 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. 
4. Dump the dough onto a surface lightly dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap dough in plastic cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
5. Roll the dough into 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. 
6. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle the top of the cookie dough with some sugar. 
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Once baked, remove and allow cookies to cool to room temperature.
8. When the cookies have cooled, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
9. Prepare the chocolate for coating by putting half of the finely chopped chocolate in a microwave bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. 
10. Stir with a spoon and continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. 
11. 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.
12. Dip half of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it. Let the chocolate set and serve.

The Dream Baker's Experiment

1. Although the cookies shouldn't stick to the ungreased baking sheet as suggested in the original sourced recipe, I lined the baking sheet with parchment paper when baking for ease of cleaning. 
2. I rolled out the dough to approximately 1/4-inch thick (because I somehow got the measurements wrongly) and used an approximately 2 by 1 1/2-inch oval-shaped cutter (simply because I do not have the recommended size cutter) to cut out the cookies.
3. I placed the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and baked the cookies for approximately 15 minutes (varies across different ovens) only because of the thinner and smaller size of my cookies. It is advisable to check the cookies after 10 minutes through the baking time. The cookies will be soft and will hardened up slightly after cooled so it is important not to over-bake. Over-baking the shortbread cookies will result in crunchy butter cookies, which happened to my first tray of cookies (though they taste as good). @_@ 
4. I used 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead and microwave them all in a bowl at high for 30 seconds, stir them around and microwave for another 30 seconds before stirring them vigorously for all chocolate chips to be melted.

These freshly-baked shortbread cookies taste just as yummy without the half chocolate coating.

But who would say no to chocolate? Definitely not me! *_*

I had a company when I was baking these shortbread cookies. And she suggested that these chocolate-coated shortbread cookies look so much like a "faceless" boy's head. 

And so……

We decided to add on the features (with the remaining melted chocolate and using a toothpick as the drawing tool)! This is what happens when two gets together and go "crazy" during baking.  ^_^

But aren't they cute?! Haha~

Have fun baking!

Dare to dream.

The Dream Baker