Chocolate Chip Shortbread Recipe

When my cupboards are running low, I love to have simple recipes with just a few ingredients to fall back on. Shortbread is one of these, with it only needing 3 main ingredients and some jazzing up with vanilla and chocolate!

Shop bought biscuits (or cookies for my American friends) seem a bit sad after having proper homemade treats made with real butter and good quality chocolate like this shortbread.

Recipes like these are a link to the past for me too, my Mum used to make plain shortbread quite often when I was wee. I used to love watching her squashing down the crumbly mixture with a palette knife. Shortbread is about as Scottish a biscuit as you can get, though I’ve tweaked it a bit and added some chocolate because it’s my favourite combination.

The Danish word “hygge” has been having a big moment (unlike it’s supposed Scottish Gaelic cousin còsagach which I had never heard of in my life, and seems to have more to do with beasties than besties!). Hygge is the embodiment of moments that nostalgia is made from, cozy memories and quality time spent together.

I think that enjoying a cup of tea and some chocolate chip shortbread in front of the fire with family or friends would make for a very Scottishly hygge moment, and if you’ve made the recipe together then there’s bonus points to you! 😉

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Recipe

Ingredients

300g (10 1/2 oz) plain flour
200g (7 oz) salted butter at room temperature (has to be proper butter, not margarine)
100g (3 1/2 oz) caster sugar
50g (dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
1tsp vanilla extract

Makes about 20 biscuits

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy.

3. Sift in the flour and mix in with a metal spoon until about half mixed in.

4. Chop up the chocolate into small pieces. You could use chocolate chips as well but I like the look of the chopped up chocolate (and I always have some in my stash 😉). Tip it into the bowl.

5. Using a hand mixer on lowest speed, finish mixing the ingredients together- it’s supposed to be crumbly.

6. Line an 8″ x 13″ (20 x 33cm) tin with greaseproof paper and tip in the mixture.

7. Spread it out evenly and use the back of a spoon to compact and smooth it down.

8. Prick the surface of the shortbread all over with a fork. Be gentle or it’ll crumble everywhere! If it does crumble just squash it back down and try again.

9. Pop it in the oven for 22-25 minutes until a light golden brown – be careful not to overbake it.

10. Leave it to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes or so.

11. While still a bit warm, cut into neat rectangles and leave to cool completely.

12. Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Enjoy!

We were thinking about how we should be creative at home on Monday and I believe that baking together with family or for loved ones is one of the many examples of creating connections and special memories. If you fancy doing some more baking, why don’t you try making a chocolate cake?

I truly believe that 15 minutes working together on something brings people closer than an hour of semi-awkward silence. Unless you’re the naturally chatty type… my husband can make conversation with almost anyone, I, on the other hand, require a bit of time and coaxing! I hope you enjoy this recipe, let me know how you get on and tag me with your makes and bakes on Instagram where I’m @kathelle_creatinghome

Kathelle x

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