Dark Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

As the weather has been getting colder, I remembered that there is no better winter snack than shortbread.  I wanted to do something a little bit different though, so I decided to make use of some leftover dark chocolate chips from the dark chocolate cake I recently made to create a batch of delicious dark chocolate dipped shortbread cookies.

To make these cookies, I used this simple recipe from Allrecipes.com http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Shortbread-Supreme/Detail.aspx.  Most shortbread recipes are almost exactly like this, though some use confectioners sugar instead of regular sugar — it just depends on the consistency you want.   Another shortbread tip is that you really want to make sure you are watching them while they are in the oven — it’s really easy to overcook shortbread either by leaving it in the oven for too long or by having the oven too hot.  To that end, try to put your cookie pans (or pie pan, depending on how you want to make it) away from the heat source.   I had many a ruined shortbread attempt when I was growing up because of over-cooking the shortbread.

After the shortbread had cooled, I melted the leftover Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips in the microwave on 50% heat.  When using the microwave to melt chocolate, you should also use low power and only cook in short bursts.  At first, it’s ok to start with 45 seconds to a minute, but after that, melt in periods of 15-20 seconds until the chocolate is JUST melted.   

From there, I just dipped a side of the shortbread into the melted chocolate, and used a spoon to wipe away the excess on the bottom of the cookie. 

Then place the cookies onto cooled cookie pans or cookie wires lined with parchment paper.  Don’t forget the parchment paper or you have a really fun time trying to get the cookies off the pan. 

Put the pans or wires then in the the fridge until the chocolate has cooled, and you can easily remove the cookies from the pan without any mess (it should be very easy to lift them up, leaving no chocolate behind). 

Remove the shortbread at that point immediately from the fridge and serve or store.