Making Shortbread with Choclate chips!

I chose this recipe for shortbread because I am Scottish and shortbread is a very common item there. Traditionally, made in large wedges, then just broken off into pieces and eaten with tea. I have actually made the traditional shortbread so I was interested on how the take on shortbread would end up.
"Ingredients

• 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup coarse grain sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees.


Using an electric mixer, in a large bowl, beat the confectioners' sugar, butter, and vanilla, until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.


Mix in the flour, cornstarch, and salt until blended. Stir in the chocolate pieces.


On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 10" square. Cut into 16 squares, and then diagonally cut each square in half.


Place each wedge 1 1/2" apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar.


Bake for 9 to 12 minutes or just until edges are a light golden brown. Makes 32 pieces" (Shaffer 186).

I decided to try this recipe to see how a new and different twist on the normal shortbread I hold so closely to home. Although this recipe was fairly simple to follow, I noticed some key differences from the first time I made shortbread. I can say I probably had higher expectations for this recipe, but in the end I had many tell me it was good, although some other mixed reviews.

I, unintentionally, did not follow the recipe entirely. It calls for 1/3 of a cup of coarse grain sugar on the shortbread wedges before baking (Shaffer 186). I, of course, forgot to follow this step and didn't realize until the wedges were baking. I don't think this was a key step, but I wanted to clarify this. Also, when I tried to cut the wedges into 32 pieces, I ended up with some pieces smaller than the others. So, I had to cut and make even more wedges, ending up with more than 32 pieces.

Compared to the other times I have made traditional shortbread, I would say it is just not quite the same. For starters, the dough was much drier than it should have been before I put it in the oven. The dough would not hold together, and many of the edges would crumbles when I tried cutting the wedges. Although it wasn't very traditional, I did like the flavor, but it was more like a dry cookie than actual shortbread.

If I ever did try this recipe again, I think it would be necessary to use less flour for the dough, to keep everything together for cutting. I would likely add 3/4 of a cup of flour to the dough and see if I needed more. Also, I would add coarse sugar to the wedges before I baked them. Cutting the wedges into a more consistent shape would also be a change that I make. As for flavor, I might try using different kinds of chocolate or some other ingredient to replace the chocolate.

What do you think would be a could change for the chocolate pieces?

Shaffer, Bev. Cookies to Die For! Gretna, LA: Pelican Pub., 2009. Print.