Chocolate Dipped Shortbread

This is from a long time ago. In fact, I don’t remember when. A few months ago, if I had to guess. What I’m saying is that I never have a point.

What’s your favourite aisle in the supermarket? For me, I’d say it’s either between the baking section (what a surprise) or the candy/chocolate aisle. Or the produce section, if that counts. The selection of candies and chocolates they had were enticing. Especially the Lindt bars they had. I mean, Lindt. How can you go wrong with that? They looked so wonderfully fancy and bold, with a combination of unique yet classic flavours. So that’s how I ended up with three different flavoured bars. Back then, I had a fundraiser thing coming up. For that I had to bake about a hundred or so individual baked goods. My mind instantly went to shortbread, since it’s basic and easy, and yields a good amount of cookies at the end.

Then I took it a step further and decided to drizzle and dip them in chocolate. Some I left plain, though. And there were a few with almonds pressed into them. Here’s the shortbread recipe I used.

From left to right: mint, orange, and salted caramel.

Don’t the descriptions sound absolutely divine?

That was the cookie cutter of my choice. Lime green and in the shape of a basic circle. Very… retro. But still makes for simple and beautiful cookies.

Don’t they resemble scallops? Even if only a little bit?

Notice the odd mounds of scrapped dough. I can safely say I’m no good at rolling and cutting out cookies.

No reason for me to include that photo. Move along.

Here they are, after being baked. Those are the almonds I mentioned. Roasted and salted.

What a beauty of a bar. Let the dipping and drizzling commence! As for how I melted the chocolate, I took the lazy route and used the microwave.

Luscious.

My photography skills back then left a lot to be desired. To say the least. But I have to vouch for this method of dressing up simple cookies. Not that shortbread cookies aren’t strong enough to stand on their own. They are, with their rich and buttery flavour. But this is a way to make an already good dessert more decadent. It’s easy. It looks nice. And it’s a crowd pleaser.

I have a few things to say about the chocolate flavours. The caramel was sweet. As in it was dancing on the point of being sickly sweet, even though it had some saltiness to counter that. This is coming from someone with a major sweet tooth. The orange had a refreshing flavour, and was certainly not short on delivering that citrusy edge. It was my sister’s favourite. Then the mint. Almost like your average dark chocolate. But with a punch of frostiness at the end, which really pleased me.

After coating the cookies, I placed them on a sheet, then stored them in the fridge, uncovered. That was so the chocolate would harden and I could package them. I bet they’d set at room temperature too, but that would obviously take longer.

For the fundraiser, I also made lemon bars. That was my first attempt. They turned out okay, though a little gooey and runny, which I attribute to my inexperience and my lack of care. Apart from that, they tasted great, with a buttery crust and a filling full of lemony goodness. It was balanced well with powerful flavours. Then the mess happened when I cut into them. It’s a stretch to call them squares. They weren’t very appealing, aesthetics wise. So I used powdered sugar, the concealer of the baking world.