Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies



This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Donna of Life’s Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First. She picked Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. I love it when cookies are the pick. They are typically so quick and easy. When it’s warm in the house, the last thing I want to do is have the oven on for too long. I’m always happy to have fresh cookies though! You can get the recipe for these cookies on Donna’s blog. You can also visit the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see how all the bloggers interpreted this week’s recipe.

Shortbread is one of the easiest cookies to make: butter, flour, sugar. This recipe is livened up with instant espresso powder and mini chocolate chips. I love Dorie’s method for shaping these: place the dough in a gallon-size freezer bag and roll it out. Refrigerate and then you cut the bag away, leaving a perfect square of cookie dough. This works so incredibly well and it’s so easy. Normally, if a recipe tells me to roll out dough to a certain dimension, I usually don’t even try because it’s so frustrating trying to get the dough to just the right size. This method solves that issue completely.

These have a fairly strong espresso flavor, which I liked when I paired them with coffee, but was a bit too strong when eaten on their own. They’re still very good; crispy, light, and buttery. Shortbread is wonderful because it stays fresh for quite some time, although that’s not usually a problem in my household! I thought these were good and I think my husband liked them, but I think he was in the mood for something chewy. These don’t fit that description, but they’re good in their own right.

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 125

6 comments:

Valerie Gamine said...

Lovely cookies! I like the graham craker-like patterns you made with the fork. :)

Cindy said...

I made the oatmeal-spice shortbread. It was perfect to begin fall baking!
I liked them but they do not meet the 'chewy' catagory. I'm anxious to make the peanut butter cookie next week. That's chewy!

Mary said...

That is an absolutely gorgeous photo! Hope you're having a great time in Bath--I thought it was beautiful when I was there.
:)

Beth said...

Your cookies look great, and I love Dorie's suggestion to freeze then cut them. I'm a big fan of shortbread!

scrambledhenfruit said...

Coffee and chocolate- yum!

Life is too short . . . said...

That plastic bag trick is a charmer, isn't it? Your cookies look so good. I loved the flavor of mine, but I could cheerfully sample a few of yours as well! Thanks for baking with me this week.