Toffee Shortbread

Shortbread somehow has become a favorite of mine, particularly around Christmas. My mom's Scotch Shortbread is always delicious, but I was intrigued by this recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod. I'm glad I was because this will become a staple of my Christmas baking ... and perhaps throughout the rest of the year. You can make them look as rustic or pretty as you like. I cut some into circles for nice presentation when gifting cookies to neighbors, but they all taste equally delicious. If you like shortbread at all, these are worth making.

And, I must give credit where credit is due. My 3-year-old son sprinkled all these cookies with toffee bits for me. He did very well ... so well he can keep the job.

Toffee Shortbread
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup toffee bits, divided
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Slowly add in the flour mixture, and mix until just combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of toffee bits.

Form the dough into a disk shape, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour or until firm. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat, and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 1/4-inch thick square. Cut into squares, rounds, or shape of your choice using a lightly floured cookie cutter or pizza cutter. Place shortbread cookies on the prepared baking sheet, and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies from baking sheet, and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, and melt, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Dip the shortbread cookies in the melted chocolate, and sprinkle with additional toffee bits. Lay on a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up. Once chocolate is completely dried, store cookies in an air tight container for up to 5 days at room temperature or much longer when frozen (as I always keep my Christmas cookies in the garage. In Wisconsin, that essentially equates to freezing them.).