Chocolate Shortbread.

I have nostalgic childhood memories of deliciously chunky Chocolate Shortbread from my school days. Sometimes it was covered in mint custard and sometimes served alone cut into triangles and sprinkled in sugar. Either way it was just lush. This recipe brings it back into your grown up home albeit sans mint custard. I don’t miss it with this recipe, it is just so incredibly good.

Chocolate Shortbread

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This Chocolate Shortbread is seriously good……moment stoppingly good in fact. A piece of this and a hot cup of something makes me forget all my parental stress just for a chocolate shortbread moment and we all need some of those.

In that first bite I am back at school clutching twenty pence in my ink stained fingers and and queuing in the dinner hall at break.

We were actually spoilt for choice at school and I still remember with adult longing the Iced Buns and Doughnuts that were freshly baked each day by the scary dinner ladies with white hats and ruddy hands.

How lucky were we? Nowadays the poor kids are lucky if they even get a sniff at school of a full fat yoghurt.

But first……..

Having survived another loooooong school holiday without drinking myself under the table I think I so deserve at least three pieces of this gloriously damp Chocolate Shortbread just for breakfast……….followed by a celebratory Tequila Slammer……….

As I waved them off on their first morning back I couldn’t help but feel much like a lottery winner must do when their number finally comes up. God it felt good to be without them……..if just for six hours.

Obvs I missed their beautiful faces within thirty seconds of them disappearing into the playground but what I did NOT miss was the constant bickering, stupid, stupid questions, endless snack demands and devastating detritus…….

However the biggest problem I found was their newly emerging teenage stropping  that before now had been unseen. Apparently my holiday house was filled to the roof with great injustice, dreadfully meagre provisions and really, really sh.t in-house entertainment …….whats wrong with a puzzle and a banana?????

Why they think that I am their personal waitress, cleaner, cook, entertainments manager and referee I know not……..

The consequence of my new holiday responsibilities  is that it immediately becomes my fault when their meals include vegetables, when the snacks are not giant choc nut sundaes and monster drinks, when the days itinerary does not include Alton Towers and when I come down in favour of one or the other.

In short I am their Holiday B.tch.

For the Love of God I challenge anyone to remain sane or even slightly cheerful. I tried several different approaches in an apparently futile attempt to ditch my Holiday B.tch job title and reinstate my previous authority but they didn’t even look up.

I’m a parental has been…… I remain genuinely nonplussed as to what to do to prevent a recurrence for the next one. One thing I know for sure is that I need an A Team sized plan or a taser to make any significant difference.

Is Super Nanny still out there?????

Chocolate Shortbread Recipe

Chocolate Shortbread

I have been rather generous with the cocoa here for an adult only experience. My children found them a bit too darkly chocolatey so please feel free to dock the amount by 10 grams but in the current situation I was glad…..it served them right.

This is as easy as any recipe gets.

I simply put the dry ingredients in my food processor and whizz to combine.

You can make this recipe just as in the food processor in a free standing mixer using the paddle attachment.

Or just in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. It is of course more time consuming than using the machines. Perhaps allow the butter to be softer and then chill the dough for 10 minutes before rolling out.

Dry ingredients

Then add the butter in cubes to the bowl and whizz again until the chocolate rubble comes together into a dough.

Chocolate Rubble

Simply press it into a loose bottomed lined tin. I use Bake-O-Glide, a silicone reusable liner in my 8 ” square baking tin and use a spoon to level it off and smooth it over.

Chocolate Shortbread

Bake it at 180 C/160 Fan/350 F/GasMark 4 for 25 mins or firm to the touch. It will firm up as it cools. Cut into triangles for nostalgic cocoa heaven.

However any shapes will do. I’m just all about the retro here.

Most suitably it is perfect for Lunchboxes.

Chocolate Shortbread

Can you make Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with this recipe?

Yes and I have lots of times. I make them just as I do my classic Easy Shortbread Cookies.

• Simply roll the dough out to 1 cm thickness either between two pieces of baking paper or on a floured work surface with a little flour on top of the dough and on the rolling pin.
• Cut out the biscuits with your chosen cutters and transfer to a lined baking tray.
• Bake for about 12 minutes at 180 C/160 Fan/350 F/Gas Mark 4
• Leave on the baking tray to cool for a few minutes before carefully removing to a wire rack to cool completely
• Store in a airtight container and they will last perfectly for about 14 days.
• I have frozen these cut out into shapes before baking and then baked from frozen for about 15 minutes at the normal temperature. I froze them cut out on a baking tray for an hour first before putting them all in a freezer bag and leaving them in there. They will last for a month frozen.

Chocolate Shortbread Tips

• You can make this recipe just as in the food processor in a free standing mixer using the paddle attachment or just in a mixing bowl. Simply use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. It is of course more time consuming than using the machines. Perhaps allow the butter to be softer and then chill the dough for 10 minutes before rolling out.
• I do wholeheartedly recommend a little independent oven thermometer. Oven temperatures can vary greatly even when your oven says it is at an accurate temperature. They are not always to be trusted. I want to say like men but I won’t…..
• Watch the shortbread for the last five minutes in the oven to intervene if the top starts to burn. Turn the oven down a little or place a sheet of silver foil on top. If you use the silver foil you may need to bake for a little longer.
• You are looking for a firm top to the shortbread.
• The recipe is great for Chocolate Shortbread Cookies too.
• If the dough becomes difficult to handle/sticky when making Cookies then place the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes. 
• Store the Chocolate Shortbread in an air tight container and it will last well for up to 2 weeks.
• You can make this a gluten free recipe by using gluten free flour. However the texture may well be a little denser.

4.72 from 21 votes

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Chocolate Shortbread

This recipe for Chocolate Shortbread is just delicious. With merely a few whizzes of the food processor you are ready to bake. The most simple chocolatey treat.

Course Biscuits

Cuisine Universal

Keyword chocolate shortbread

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 363 kcal

Author Apply To Face Blog

Ingredients

• 225 grams plain flour
• 50 grams cocoa powder
• 140 grams caster sugar
• 200 grams unsalted butter

Metric - U S Customary

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas Mark 4

2. Put all the dry ingredients in a food processor and whizz to combine. Add the butter and whizz again until it starts to come together into a chocolate dough. Alternatively without a food processor you can mix the dry ingredients together  before rubbing the (cold)  butter in with your fingers until breadcrumbs form and finally kneading it into a dough.

3. Empty out into an 8 " square ,or equivalent, lined loose bottomed tin and using a spoon gently press the dough evenly into the tin and smooth it off.

4. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.

5. Let the shortbread cool a little in the tin before marking out your slices. Wait until it is fully cool before moving to your serving plate and falling upon them.

6. Apply to Usurped Face

Recipe Notes

• You can make this recipe just as in the food processor in a free standing mixer using the paddle attachment or just in a mixing bowl. Simply use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. It is of course more time consuming than using the machines. Perhaps allow the butter to be softer and then chill the dough for 10 minutes before rolling out.
• I do wholeheartedly recommend a little independent oven thermometer. Oven temperatures can vary greatly even when your oven says it is at an accurate temperature. They are not always to be trusted. I want to say like men but I won't.....
• Watch the shortbread for the last five minutes in the oven to intervene if the top starts to burn. Turn the oven down a little or place a sheet of silver foil on top. If you use the silver foil you may need to bake for a little longer.
• You are looking for a firm top to the shortbread.
• The recipe is great for Chocolate Shortbread Cookies too.
• If the dough becomes difficult to handle/sticky when making Cookies then place the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes. 
• Store the Chocolate Shortbread in an air tight container and it will last well for up to 2 weeks.
• You can make this a gluten free recipe by using gluten free flour. However the texture may well be a little denser.

 

Nutrition Facts

Chocolate Shortbread

Amount Per Serving

Calories 363 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Fat 21g32%

Saturated Fat 13g81%

Cholesterol 53mg18%

Sodium 4mg0%

Potassium 131mg4%

Carbohydrates 42g14%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 17g19%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 625IU13%

Calcium 18mg2%

Iron 2.2mg12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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I have linked this post with #CookBlogShare over at Recipes Made Easy