Candy Cane Dark Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies
I always thought shortbread cookies were very plain. When I was in my youthful prime, I HUSTLED as a Girl Scout and sold boxes and boxes of cookies, but never understood the people who would order shortbread cookies. There were so many better options, or so I thought!
A few years ago, I started making lemon bars and I guess that was my re-introduction to shortbread. The lemon bars are perfectly tangy and sat on a delicious buttery shortbread. Other than that, I haven’t really played around with shortbread a whole lot until recently. The ability to manipulate shortbread is what I love about it. It is a very simple dough that you can easily add flavors to it and really customize it.
My friend Ellie came over, and being that she is super pregnant (like 10 days from the due date), foods can be difficult for her, so what better cookies to make than shortbread. Simple cookies where I can use cookie cutters – sign me up! This would be a great recipe to make with kids or anyone who likes helping out in the kitchen.
Ingredients:
3 sticks (24 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
8 oz dark chocolate
6 candy canes, broken up
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla bean paste, and mix in the flour until well combined. When mixed, place dough on a floured surface, form into a disk, wrap with cling wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Once chilled, roll out the dough to be about a half inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet or one prepared with parchment paper and bake for 25 minutes or until nice and warm golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely.
When cookies are cooled, melt your dark chocolate until it’s a nice liquid consistency. Dip the cookie halfway into the chocolate, lay it on a piece of parchment paper, and sprinkle the broken pieces of candy canes on the chocolate. Let cool & enjoy!