Melancholy Mommy - Espresso Shortbread with White Chocolate

Yep, sooner or later you know it had to happen.  Another shortbread recipe.  This one is my mother's fault.  She purchased some shortbread at the grocery store after reading the ingredient list, which seemed to be OK, since if contained Flour, Sugar, Butter and Coffee.  Sounds OK to me too.  BUT (there's that big but again)  They had dipped the shortbread in fake white chocolate, composed of Palm Kernel and Palm oils with some cane juice and ground coffee.

While I applaud their use of cane juice, I really get annoyed when companies try to pass off Palm Kernel oil and Palm oil as being white chocolate.  (ie. Nestle White Morsels, Guittard "Au Lait" and several "White Chocolate" candy bars like Hershey's Cookies and Cream)  They aren't EVEN close.  White Chocolate, being made from Cocoa Butter, melts in your mouth at 98 degrees (just like regular Chocolate).  Palm Kernel oil doesn't "melt" until about 107F (I use to make soap).  Thus it leaves a greasy feeling in your mouth.  To make a long story short, it's like eating sugar laden Crisco. YUCK!

Needless to say, my mom was a little upset that they had ruined a perfectly good shortbread.  She thought she could power past the fake coating.  Alas, she could not.  I tried one, they were gross.

So I made these especially for her, to lift her from her melancholy state of mind.  Now she's all kinds of happy... and somewhat hyper for that matter.

Espresso Shortbread

1 1/2 tsp Espresso Powder
1 1/2 tsp Hot Water
Pinch of Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
4 oz (8 TB) (113g) Unsalted Butter
2 oz (1/4 cup) (57g) Brown Sugar (you can use Granulated Sugar if you like)
6 oz (1 1/3 cups) (170g) AP Flour

Coating:
1 1/2 oz REAL White Chocolate
1/8 tsp Espresso Powder

Combine Espresso Powder and Hot Water in a small bowl, stirring with a fork or spoon until dissolved.

the pinch of Cinnamon,

and the Salt, stirring to combine.

Place Butter in the bowl of a mixer along with the Espresso mixture.

Beat until well combined, then add the Brown Sugar.

Continue beating until everything is smooth and creamy looking.

Slowly incorporate the Flour, just until the dough begins to pull together into little clumps.

Turn the crumbly dough out onto a piece of waxed paper and press together into a disk with your hands.

Wrap the disk with the waxed paper, then wrap the whole thing with plastic wrap to retain moisture.

Chill the dough for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325F (162C) degrees and turn the disk out onto a well floured surface and roll to 1/4 inch (6mm) thick.

Using a well floured cutter, cut out shapes.

Move, with a floured spatula, to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 13-18 minutes or until the bottoms are just beginning to color and the shortbread feel firm to the touch in the center.

Move to a cooling rack.

Combine White Chocolate and Espresso powder in a small bowl.

Melt the White Chocolate in the microwave stirring until smooth.
Grab a large paint brush (I find it easier to paint than dip) and paint half the shortbread with espresso chocolate.

Let your imagination run wild......  :)

Allow the chocolate to sit for at least 1 hour to firm up again.

Then box them up and give them to your mother.  :)  Just don't let her eat more than 2 at any given time or you may find her bouncing off the walls.  ;)

Mangia!!
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