Chocolate Shortbread

I love shortbread - plain, lemon, cut into bars or triangles.  I love the crumbly dry texture and the heavy scent and taste of butter.
I get a great thrill out of dipping mine into a cup of hot tea.

I cannot recall the last time I made shortbread.  I am like a lot of you and buy the cookies all packaged up in those sweet, red boxes at the local grocery store.  You know the brand - Walkers. Boxes of Walkers shortbread fill this house at Christmas. Yum, Yum, Yum.

But here we are slowly moving into spring and not a Walkers box to be found in my pantry.  What's a girl to do?  This type of situation is one of the main reasons why I love to bake.  When I really want something, when the craving takes over so bad I can taste it, I know that any sweet treat I truly desire is one I can whip up myself in my own kitchen if I choose to do so. How great is that? What a liberating feeling!

And a few days ago I did just that and created a darn good, if I do say so myself, chocolate shortbread.  Yes, these are exactly the kind that melt in your mouth.

Better yet - the food processor does all the work for you.  It blends all the ingredients to a perfect consistency without much work on your part at all.  The cookies are then baked in a springform pan  and sliced into triangles right after they come out of the oven.  They are thick, rich and wonderfully textured. The cocoa powder adds a nice change and if you use dark cocoa powder you will really get that depth of flavor which I think is fantastic.

So if you are ready, let's whip up some superb traditional shortbread.

RECIPE:
*adapted source recipe - Chocolate Shortbread, The Great British Book of Baking

WHAT YOU NEED

260 grams all purpose flour
100 grams granulated sugar
40 grams cocoa powder
pinch of salt
200 grams unsalted cold butter, diced


MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
SPRAY an 8" springform pan (sides and bottom) with cooking spray

IN BOWL OF FOOD PROCESSOR,  add all ingredients except butter
PULSE to combine
ADD in butter and blend for 30 seconds - will have a grainy, sandy appearance
POUR mixture into prepared baking pan
PRESS down with the back of a spoon
LIGHTLY score into 12 triangles

BAKE for 5 minutes
REMOVE and poke several holes into each cookie (doing this before they first go into the oven makes a mess and isn't worth it)
PUT back in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Keep an eye on the cookies as they bake to prevent scorching (common when cocoa is added). If they are starting to scorch, reduce oven temp
REMOVE from oven and with a sharp knife, cut through scored lines to create 12 triangular cookies
LET COOL in plan completely before removing

ENJOY !