Chocolate Shortbread…Being Martha

I am interested in ANY recipe that has chocolate so as I thumbed through the Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook, it was hard to pass this one up.  This has an amazing mix of chocolate and cinnamon!  It can be found on Page 127 of the book or the recipe can be found below.  I could not find the recipe on line and it would be a shame if you didn’t have the recipe yourself to make this at home.

To start off this recipe, I gathered all the dry ingredients.  Notice the dry ingredients below in the bowl which are rather lumpy.  aha…my opportunity to buy and use another new tool!

Using a sifter for your dry ingredients will help reduce the lumps in the mix, combine your dry ingredients nicely and also make your batter or mix consistent with ingredients.  This was my first time trying my new sifter.  Here it is in action…exciting huh?  I sifted my dry ingredients twice for this recipe.

Here is what the dry ingredients looked like after sifting…nice combined and ready to add the other ingredients…butter!

 So, the other new tool or accessory that I have acquired through my research on baking and tips is the use of parchment paper.  Parchment paper is great to use as a liner for many baking projects especially cookies and bars.  I purchased mine at Cost Plus World Market, but most baking or specialty stores carry it.  It is typically not carried at the grocery store or Target.  Believe me; I tried.

 For this recipe, I used the parchment paper to line the baking pan and to reduce the risk of the shortbread cookies sticking to the pan.  It worked great!

 Once the dry ingredients and butter are mixed, spread the mix in your pan with a large offset spatula.  The mix is rather firm and difficult to spread.  Spread evenly and then place in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes to firm up.

 Once removed from the refrigerator, poke holes in the top of the mix.  You can see Baja is very interested in this process.  He loves when I bake.  I wonder why?

 The one thing with shortbread that is different than most other items you bake is that you need to cut it as soon as it comes out of the oven.  If you don’t, it is very hard to cut when it is cool and it will break.  So, cut as soon as you get it out of the oven and sprinkler sugar all over the top.  Below, you will notice that I pulled the entire thing right out of the pan using the parchment paper.  The pan was clean!!!

Here is the final presentation of the goodies for the day….the recipe for the pound cake can be found here.

Here is the recipe:

3 Sticks Unsalted Room Temp Butter

2 1/2 Cups + 2TBS All Purpose Flour

4 1/2 TBS Dutch-process Cocoa Powder

Heaping 1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Superfine Sugar

Granulated Sugar for Dusting

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Combine Dry Ingredients - Flour, Cocoa, Cinnamon

Beat Butter & Sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.

Add Dry Ingredients to Butter/Sugar Mixture until just combined.

Spread into a 12×8 Inch Pan lined w/ parchment paper or buttered.

Cool in refrigerator for 15 to 20 Minutes

Remove & poke holes in dough.

Place in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes until just firm to touch.

Remove, cut immediately, sprinkler with sugar and cool completely in pan.

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I am thinking that this recipe would be great baked in a pie shape, topped with whipping cream or creme fraiche and berries.  That sounds fantastic!

Happy Baking & 4th of July!