Author Notes
These tender, not-too-sweet shortbread cookies are laced with finely ground chocolate and flecked with larger chocolate bits as well. A food processor and a bag of chocolate chips produce this effect in the easiest possible way. The cookies end up with plenty of chocolate flavor without sacrificing the tender texture of the cookie. You can substitute chopped dark chocolate with 55% to 70% cacao—the higher percentage will make the cookies more chocolate-y and less sweet than they already are. It’s your call! —Alice Medrich
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Ingredients
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1
(11-12 ounce) bag (311-340 grams) dark chocolate chips
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3/4 cup
plus 2 tablespoons (140 grams) gluten-free oat flour
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1/3 cup
(50 grams) white rice flour
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1/4 cup
(50 grams) sugar
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3/8 teaspoon
salt (I use fine sea salt)
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1/8 teaspoon
baking soda
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4 tablespoons
(60 grams) cream cheese, softened
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12 tablespoons
(170 grams) unsalted butter, softened
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1 tablespoon
water
Directions
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Combine the chocolate chips, oat flour, rice flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process and pulse until the mixture feels like fine gravel, with the largest chocolate pieces no bigger than ¼ inch (some of the chocolate will be more finely ground—this is correct).
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Add the cream cheese and the butter to the bowl in several small pieces. Add the water. Process just until the butter and cream cheese are blended in and the dry ingredients look damp. Scrape the mixture together onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper and knead in any stray dry ingredients. Form a 12-inch log about 2 inches thick and wrap it well. Refrigerate for at least two hours and up to a couple of days.
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Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325° F for non-convection (adjust the temperature for convection according to the instructions with your oven). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Use a sharp knife to cut slices 1/3 inch thick (I mark the log at 1-inch intervals and cut three slices between each mark) and place them 1 inch apart on lined sheets
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Bake 16-20 minutes; the cookies will still be very soft but will firm up as they cool. Rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back about half way through the baking time. Set the pans on racks to cool and cool cookies completely before storing. Cookies keep for at least a week in an airtight container.
My career was sparked by a single bite of a chocolate truffle, made by my Paris landlady in 1972. I returned home to open this country’s first chocolate bakery and dessert shop, Cocolat, and I am often “blamed” for introducing chocolate truffles to America. Today I am the James Beard Foundation and IACP award-winning author of ten cookbooks, teach a chocolate dessert class on Craftsy.com, and work with some of the world’s best chocolate companies. In 2018, I won the IACP Award for Best Food-Focused Column (this one!).
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