chocolate chip shortbread cookies

So…. hi! Remember me? I figured that the best way for me to get back into the world of blogging was to start with something short & sweet, and what could fulfill that promise better than chocolate chip shortbread cookies? Ha, I crack myself up. That pun wasn't intended until I reread the "short & sweet" bit. Man I'm a natural. 

Anyway… This recipe. YUM and so easy. It only requires 5 ingredients! Perfect for taking with you to Thanksgiving when you need to look like you put forth some effort when in reality there's so little time that you'll probably be baking these treats at 1 am Wednesday night. But be forewarned: this recipe isn't one you can just throw together and have cookies in 30 minutes. The butter needs to be at room temperature & the dough needs to refrigerate for at least 2 hours before baking. And if you're feeling like an overachiever, I think this recipe would be incredible dipped in dark chocolate & I'm pretty sure your guests would think so too ;)

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Yield: about 3 dozen

Ingredients

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners' (aka powdered) sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. In a stand mixer, beat butter and confectioners' sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in vanilla, then reduce mixer speed to low and add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough.

2. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

3. Gather dough and place in between two sheets of parchment paper, the bottom sheet on a cookie sheet. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape 1/4-inch thick. 

4. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

5. After the dough is firm, preheat the oven to 325 F. Cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares.

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown.

Word to the wise: You might have noticed the cutesy cut cookies in the picture. If you do want cookies in some shape other than the cut squares, consider doing that before you refrigerate them for 2 hours. I didn't think about it until as I was pulling them out of the refrigerator with an idealistic "Oh, we have those fun biscuit cutters! Let me find those somewhere…" The dough is now firm by this point which means if you're cutting with some shape other than straight lines, the dough will crumble and your cookies will look less than amateur status, and you'll end up with shapes that look like the state of New York because it'll be harder to reform them than to just leave them be… So if you're cookie cutting them, do so before you refrigerate. 

And that friends is my first post back to the blog world. Sometime in the coming days or weeks I'll share our trips to Maine & Orlando, but considering that I haven't blogged in two months I'd hedge a bet that it won't be tomorrow ;)