Small Cookie Sunday: Box of Chocolates Shortbread Cookies
BOX OF CHOCOLATES’ SHORTBREAD COOKIES
This was a super fun project. Each month a group of 24 of us long-time friends gets together for a “hat luncheon”. We each take our turn in hosting – this means selecting a restaurant and making the arrangements, sending out the invitations, tallying the attendees, and presiding over the affair. This month it was my turn. And yes, as you counted, it has been two years since my last time and I was more than ready! I wanted to make little boxes of ‘shortbread chocolates’ as my table favors. The idea is to present tiny shortbread cookies beautifully decorated and boxed up like very special chocolates. This was my fun over the weekend.
I adjusted my regular shortbread recipe with a bit more flour, to help them keep their shape and not ‘slump’ while baking. This way the cookies will fit into the containers nicely, without being bulged-out at the base and tiny at the top. You can decorate the cookies an infinity of ways.
I packaged them in small boxes (I chose the boxes first, and tailored the size and shape of the cookies to fit) and added a label for the top to tie in the theme. They turned out just as I had imagined! Love them!!
- ALMOND SHORTBREAD INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup butter, very soft
- 3 cups flour
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- salt if needed
- Stir all together, then knead until mixed thoroughly.
- For topping:
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- About 50 pecan halves, cut in half. Toast in the oven at 350 for 5 – 10 minutes, watching carefully. Cool completely before placing on top of chocolate.
- CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup butter, very soft
- 2 – 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- salt if needed
- Stir all together, then knead until mixed thoroughly.
- For toppings:
- about 1/4 cup of pearl sugar
- about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
- one teaspoon or less of cold water
- about 25 small pieces of dried cranberry
- Before baking, I added the decorations to one half of the cut cubes: refrigerate the cookie dough squares until firm, brush the top with a bit of water, then sprinkle pearl sugar over the top (or turbinado sugar, or caster sugar, or colored sparkly sugar, or whatever you like).
- FORM AND BAKE
- Pat the dough into a rectangle almost 3/4” tall. You don’t need a rolling pin. It only takes a minute to pat it into shape, and when you have it looking pretty good, finish up by placing a piece of wax paper or parchment on top of the dough then continue to pat and rub gently until smooth. Take a final measure on each side with a ruler to be sure you still have the right thickness. Cut into 3/4” square cubes. Any leftover scraps, pull together and form into a new, smaller rectangle that is 3/4” thick, and cut into cubes.
- Place cut cubes on a light colored cookie sheet 1/2” apart. Make a small dimple in the center of each one with the blunt end of a toothpick cut in half. Refrigerate until firm. Bake at 350 for 12 – 14 minutes or until the bottoms turn brown, and the edges just barely begin to turn brown. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
- DECORATE THE COOKIES
- Almond shortbread:One half of the batch leave as is, showing off the beautiful vanilla-colored cookie with the dimple in the center. The second half of the batch, dip each piece carefully into gently melted chocolate chips and then top with a chunk of toasted pecan. Allow to cool completely before packaging.
- Chocolate shortbread: The second half of the chocolate shortbread cookies, bake and allow to cool. Top with a small dollop of white icing made with powdered sugar mixed with a tiny bit of water, then press a bit of dried cranberry into the icing. Allow to dry overnight before packaging.
PACKAGE THE COOKIES
I used Square Flat favor boxes, 2.5” x 2.5” x 1.125” high.
And Fancy Square labels, shape 81, custom style (I designed the art and uploaded it to the website)
Jeanne and her husband David launched My Own Labels in January of 2000. It was a spin-off of their successful graphic design firm, plus it allowed Jeanne to incorporate her love of baking, making, sewing and creating. Today David and Jeanne continue to be the heart of the operation both creatively and practically.