chocolate dipped shortbread cookies

I know it’s a little early in the morning to be thinking about cookies, but with the holiday baking sprees I’m sure most will have in the next few days, here is a cookie recipe you should unhesitatingly add.

Reasons for doing so:

Because it’s Ina — she has never steered you wrong.

Because they are buttery — when has a buttery cookie not been a perfect cookie?

Because they are dipped in chocolate — when has buttery goodness submerged in chocolate not been a good thing? (Read: make me now).

Believe me. I made them, ate them, and now, well, I had to wear my fat pants on vacation.

The Red Spoon has flown the coop and went to Hawaii and Australia! Responses will be slow, but new posts will appear, as I take you through some new recipes and some of my cooking backlog. In our absence, we leave you these:

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies
From Ina Garten

Makes about 20 cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. (Meg note: I used a pastry cutter to make 3 by 1 inch rectangles, however the cookies lost their fluted edges while baking so I switched to a 2-inch round cookie cutter.) Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it’s completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.

Dip each cookie into chocolate and allow to cool and the chocolate to harden before serving.