Calling all my shortbread people!

Calling all my chocolate people!

Now there’s no need to choose!! These Chocolate Chunk Shortbread have it all! You’re welcome!

Think buttery, rich, melt-in-your-mouth cookies with generous chunks of bittersweet chocolate scattered throughout—you’re drooling, right?

I know I am! Guys, these are so, so good and so easy to make too! You can even make the dough up to three days ahead, keep it chilled and then just slice and bake whenever you’re ready.

They’d be a wonderful and welcome addition to any holiday cookie platter or just because you really need a treat that only a shortbread cookie that’s loaded with chocolate can offer. You decide.

The cookie baking continues in full swing around here. More to come…

Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus at least 2 hours chilling time: Bake Time: About 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

• 1 tablespoon water

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, sifted

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

The Recipe

1. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and add mix in the water and vanilla. On low speed, mix in the flour and salt, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the chocolate.

2. Form the dough into a log that’s about 1 ½ inches wide and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

3. Make sure oven rack is in centered position and preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Cut the dough into ½-inch slices and place on the prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake 1 sheet at at time for about 15 minutes, turning around at midpoint, until cookies are golden around the edges but still pale in the center. Let cool on the tray on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then transfer cookies directly to rack to finish cooling completely.

4. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from an old issue of Gourmet Magazine. The original recipe makes 6 dozen so I halved it and also cut the almond extract, upped the vanilla and added more chocolate.