Recently I won a contest called Food is Love hosted by Savor the Thyme and The Naptime chef with this pic Sweetlife. I was so excited!! because my friends the prize was chocolate from Scharffen Berger!! Well last week I received the package of loot and I was super pleased. In the box was a sampler pack of their chocolates, cocoa powder and cacoa nibs. Included was also a recipe from Elizabeth Falkner for Chocolate Shortbread with Cacoa nibs and sea salt that she contributed for the book The Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine chocolate by John Scarffen and Robert Steinberg. I really enjoyed the deep chocolate taste with the slight shock of the sea salt in these cookies. Of course I used my cookie cutters to praise myself–haha Enjoy!!
The cacao nibs were super delish…I have been munching on these for awhile but never knew Scharffen Berger carried these in their line. They are wonderful on yogurt, oatmeal and even in your cereal.
The cocoa powder texture is excellent and I am super in love with it..yes super in love…
Chocolate Shortbread with cacao Nibs and Sea salt
from The Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate by John Scharffen and Robert Steinberg
contributed by Elizabeth falkner
makes 3 dz
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cacao nibs, crushed with a rolling pin
1 tsp fine or coarse sea salt
12 tbsp (6ounces) unsalted butter- at room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Position the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325f. Line two baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Combine the nibs and sea salt in another small bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy, stopping as necessary to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the vanilla.
Add about half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed. Add the remaining flour-cocoa mixture, stopping as necessary to scrape the bowl. once incorporated, mix on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in the nibs and salt. (Dough can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.)
On a lightly floured board, or between two pieces of parchment papaer, roll the dough into a square 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 1 by 2 1/2 inch rectangles or other desired shape, by hand or with a cookie cutter, and place on the prepared pans about 1 inch apart.
Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the pans once halfway through baking. It is sometimes difficult to know when chocolate cookies are done. One of the best indications is the scent of baked cookies in the air. And when these shortbread cookies are gently nudged, they shouldn’t feel soft but the bottoms should seem crisp.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
I love the entry. It looks good. Thank you!
Holy moly, what a great prize!! and what awesome cookies all that quality chocolate must have made! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Cheers!
C
Congrats on winning that contest! I love Scharffen Berger chocolate. My favorite is the unsweetened cocoa powder. I use it daily in all kinds of high energy treats! Great photos, the cookies look delicious. I met Elizabeth last year at Blogher Food in SF…..wonderful gal.
Oh my dear…chocolate!
That picture with the spoons is the greatest, by the by ;D
Sweet cookies! Congrats on the fine chocolaty win. So cute how you spelled it out for us 😉 Sea salt in cookies, now that’s a new one on me. Very interesting concept, I’d like to try these out sometime. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.
wow! nice job! everything looks amazing!
this is up there among the most awesome prizes EVER. congrats! 🙂
Congrats ou your win, the cookies are lovely. 🙂
Chocolate shortbread…sweet indeed!
Congratulations, you lucky woman =D! That was a lovely post.
Oh, wow, those cookies sound beautiful, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Also, I love how you celebrated yourself! Hehe.
~Kurious Kitteh
I made some biscotti with cocoa nibs a while ago that I adored and finished in non time; I am not sure I could nibble on the nibs alone though!
I love that recipe and I am sure it is delicious; I ate similar sablés from the Pierre Hermé outlet in Paris a few years ago and loved them so much, these sound very similar
Photos magnifiques.
Encore une belle réalisation.
See soon.
Wonderful cookies! I love cocoa nibs, so far I’ve been just munching on cocoa nibs, I really need to bake something with them soon 🙂
Dear sweetlife – I am always in awe of your creativity and ythat ‘je ne sais quoi’ about you!
Your long lost sister in the blog world,
Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
sympa comme tout ces cookies, j’adore
bonne journée
Those cookies are adorable! Congrats on your win. Well deserved!
Congratulations and what a great prize! Those cookies are absolutely adorable!
I’ve never cooked with cocoa nibs before. Must look into it!
Nice prize! Congrats on winning 🙂 The cookies are adorable as is everything else you do.
congrats on your win 🙂 this recipe is awesome ..
Congrats on the win! The cacao nibs sound very tempting! I am an avid choco fan, that’s why.
Congrats on your win! What a sweet way to celebrate and utilize your loot 😉
Now I want some coffee to go with those cookies!
http://threepeasinakitchen.blogspot.com
your talking to my heart!!! The cookies look so yummy !!!! Marcella and Izzy can’t wait for you to make some for them. Okay using your nieces to throw you a hint that I really want them. love you ! Great pics!!!
Never worked with cacao nibs before. I’ll have to see who in the city carries them. These looks adorable. Great job!