Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This very simple recipe comes from the blog The View from Great Island. Those of you who love shortbread, peanut butter and milk chocolate are about to come one step closer to paradise, because these cookies have all three. It takes about 10 minutes to make the dough for the shortbread, but be forewarned, it must chill a bit before it can be sliced and baked. This is a very short (buttery) and crumbly dough, so don't be discourage if it crumbles when you cut it. That happens to me when I make these cookies, so, now that I am older, I simply do a bit of plastic surgery and press the dough back into a shape that resembles a disk. The younger me was a stickler and would never do, much less admit that it was necessary to reshape them. I'm not sure that is a good thing my standards have been lowered to that degree, but I have a family so enamored of cookies that they don't take time to check their appearance and I remain a heroine. I have one caution to share regarding preparation of these cookies. Do not use natural peanut butter to make them. The cookies need the extra oil that is found in commercial brands for proper consistency. Other than that, making them is a breeze. Here is how it is done.


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of The View from Great Island

Ingredients:
1 stick, (1/2 cup, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Cream butter and peanut butter together in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Beat in the vanilla.
2) Whisk dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture. Mix until dough comes together and is no longer crumbly.
3) Stir in chips, and turn dough out onto a piece of waxed paper. Gently pull dough together and form it into an 8-inch log. If it is still crumbly, work it with your hands until it holds together smoothly. Roll it up in paper, smoothing shape as you go. Twist ends securely and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.
4) When ready to proceed, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
5) Slice log into discs about 1/3-inch thick using a sharp knife. If a slice crumbles a bit, smoosh dough back together. These don't have to be perfect disks.
6) Bake on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet for about 12-14 minutes, depending on how thick your cookies are. The cookies will not be browned, and they may look undone, but don't over bake. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack. Yield: 12 to 16 cookies.

                    

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