Salted chocolate chunk porcini rosemary shortbread

We made these crisp, tender, savory, salty and slightly sweet cookies for the Bakers Against Racism Campaign to raise money The Root Social Justice Center, a local organization working for racial justice in our communities through collaborative programs and alliances. If you missed out, don’t worry, visit the links to learn more, and donate what you can to The Root Social Justice Center, their work is vital to building and maintaining a healthy, safe and vibrant community for all in Southern Vermont! And you can make the cookies at home, scroll down for the recipe.

These little delights are super easy to make, and you can use them in so many different ways. They complement sweet ingredients as a stage for ice cream, an alternative to shortcakes with fresh berries and whipped cream, or as in s’mores instead of the traditional graham cracker. They lend themselves to savory toppings, too, and are lovely served alongside roast chicken or tofu, soups and stews.

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Ingredients

1 lb. salted butter, softened we used Cabot

3/4 cup raw cane sugar or panela we used Wholesome Sweeteners

3 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour we used King Arthur Flour

1 cup dark chocolate, the best you can find, roughly chopped we used a combination of 65% & 70% Ecuadorian cacao

scant 1/4 cup dried rosemary plus 1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms our friends substituted dried shiitakes and they were delicious!!!

flake sea salt and raw cane sugar for sprinkling

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Method

pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.

Pulse the dried rosemary and porcini mushrooms in a food processor until they are fine bits.

Put the softened butter, cane sugar, flour and porcini-rosemary spice blend in an electric mixer bowl and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the dough just starts coming together.

OR if you don’t have an electric mixer:

Mix the flour, cane sugar and porcini rosemary spice blend together in a large bowl. Add the softened butter and mix with a hand mixer or with your hands (how I started doing it at home!) until the dough just starts coming together.

Add the chopped chocolate and mix until it’s evenly distributed throughout the dough (not long! about 30 seconds).

Turn the dough out onto a surface lightly dusted with flour and form it into a large disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

I cut the chilled dough disc in half and found it easier to work with that way. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Use a cookie cutter or the mouth of a wide rim glass (I used a pint glass) to cut out cookies and place on an ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheet with about an inch in-between each. Sprinkle with sugar and flake sea salt.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until they start to turn a golden brown.

Let them cool for a couple of minutes then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack with a metal spatula. Makes about 18 large shortbread cookies.

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Variations using our bars

•Brown the butter over medium heat in a thick walled frying pan, let cool to room temperature before mixing into flour. Substitute broken up chunks of our Golden Nugget or Maple Macaroon bars for the chopped dark chocolate.

•Substitute rye flour for the all-purpose flour. Brown the butter over medium heat in a thick walled frying pan, let cool to room temperature before mixing into flour. Substitute broken up chunks of our Rouge Bar for the chopped dark chocolate.

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Serving Suggestions

Straight up delicious with coffee, tea, or with a single malt or bourbon with a single ice cube clinking in a chilled glass

As a shortcake alternative top with fresh, local strawberries, blackberries, raspberries or blueberries and whipped cream

As a stage for icecream the possibilities are endless, we love a scoop of sweet cream or vanilla bean ice cream, wildflower honey gelato, or whatever you fancy. We topped ours with fresh strawberries and drizzled the whole thing with some excellent balsamic, and another time with a drizzle of fruity olive oil. Go ahead, pour some chocolate sauce on it, too!

For heavenly s’mores toast a couple of marshmallows, pop them on top, and voila!

Chick’n & biscuits for real!!! Creamed chicken or tofu poured over the top is ah-mazing!!! Also try a wild mushroom ragout with a topping of sour cream. Yup.

A biscuit on the side for soups, stews, roasted chicken and vegetables.