I'm really pleased with this recipe – it's so simple but the flavour and texture are just spot on, it really does make the very best chocolate shortbread. Make it into spooky Halloween skulls or just simple shapes these biscuits will impress everyone.
Despite only a small proportion of cocoa it packs lots of flavour and somehow it works so perfectly with he sugary crust. It also looks quite dramatic don't you think, with the dark biscuit coated with the snowy white sugar.
The texture of these biscuits, is so so good. You get a crisp snap when you bite into the shortbread and then just it melts away, it's shortbread perfection. It is vitally important to chill the dough well to get this texture. So you make the dough, knead it briefly and then roll out between two sheets of parchment to a thickness of about 3mm. Then chill the rolled out dough for at least 30 minutes – if you have time then a couple of hours, or even better, overnight. The beauty of chilling the dough well is that not only to you end up with the perfect shortbread texture but you can also cut out any shapes and they'll keep their integrity whilst baking.
Here I've made DIY Halloween Skulls – using just a round cookie cutter, a small piping nozzle and a knife (if you want to see a video of how check out my Instagram reels or TikTok channel.)
Somehow the white sprinkled chocolate biscuit looks just right as a skeleton! But these biscuits look great in any shape – they make cute little sweet nibbles as well as more substantial sized cookies – just take your pick!
The Best Chocolate Shortbread
dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan
- 130 g plain flour
- 20 g cocoa powder
- 50 g caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 100 g dairy-free butter fridge cold and cubed
- 20 g caster sugar for sprinkling
- Sift the flour and cocoa into a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the sugar and salt.
- Rub in the butter with your fingertips, or the mixer. As there is a large proportion of butter to flour you will form a dough pretty quickly after getting to the breadcrumb stage.
- Briefly knead the dough to make it nice and smooth.
- Between two sheets of parchment, roll out the dough to 3mm thick and then place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade
- Stamp out shapes from the chilled dough and place, spaced apart onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes
- Sprinkle with caster sugar whilst hot and then move to a wire rack to cool
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