My husband and I lived in Seattle when we were first married and I loved everything about it. My neighborhood (Ballard) was quirky and close to so many interesting places. My church community was full of fascinating people. And, of course, everything was a bit rosy with our uncomplicated life as a couple and then as parents of a baby/toddler. It was a great season of just soaking up the good life.
One of the people I knew was a woman who had owned a bakery in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle for many years. She made the most fabulous shortbread cookies and I fell in love with them at a cookie exchange. I requested the recipe and she gave me the one she had used in her bakery. It called for 2 pounds of butter! While that could be useful during an epic Christmas cookie baking session, it was a bit much for everyday baking. I tinkered with it at the time and the, when our family moved to Spokane, the recipe was lost in a notebook.
When I recently took out my cooking notebooks for a review of my cookbook journey, I found the recipe and decided that it was time to try nailing it down for use with a gluten free flour. A couple of batches and I had it. The chocolate bits are my addition, but I think they help to cut the richness of the butter a bit. Either way, this is a great cookie.
Let me know if you have any cookie recipes you would like to see baked with gluten free flour.
Ingredients:
- 75 grams very dark chocolate (I used 6 squares of Ghiradelli 72% cacao chocolate)
- 1/2 cup soft salted butter (for the best cookies, use a butter like Kerrygold Irish butter)
- 1/2 cup/57 grams powdered sugar (gently scooped directly into the cup and leveled off)
- 1 1/4 cup/179 grams bread flour (add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum if using my gluten free flour blend–this also works with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free baking flour, which already contains xanthan gum)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Chop the chocolate into small pieces.
Step 2: Beat the butter until it is smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Beat in the flour, vanilla, and salt.
Step 3: Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut cookies and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
