Best Chocolate Almond Shortbread Recipes

CHOCOLATE ALMOND SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Pulse almonds with flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until very finely chopped. Add butter and pulse just until a dough forms.
• Press dough evenly into an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan with your fingers. Cut dough into 16 squares with a sharp knife, then cut squares diagonally to make a total of 32 triangles.
• Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack and run a thin knife around edge of pan to loosen cookies while hot. Recut hot cookies into triangles, then cool completely in pan. Dust with confectioners sugar just before serving.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F
• Pulse almonds with flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until very finely chopped.
• Add butter and pulse just until a dough forms.
• Press dough evenly into an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan with your fingers.
• Cut dough into 16 squares with a sharp knife, then cut squares diagonally to make a total of 32 triangles.
• Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes.
• Transfer pan to a rack and run a thin knife around edge of pan to loosen cookies while hot.
• Recut hot cookies into triangles, then cool completely in pan.
• Dust with confectioners sugar just before serving.
• **Note: Cookies can be made 5 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Makes 32 cookies.

DARK CHOCOLATE, CHERRY, & ALMOND SHORTBREAD COOKIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375. Spread almonds in an even layer on a baking sheet, and toast almonds for 5 to 10 minutes, checking frequently that they don't burn. They should smell super nutty and be just barely beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.
• In a food processor, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt; process until smooth and well blended. Add flour, chocolate, cherries, and almonds, and pulse until just combined and beginning to hold together. If you don't have a food processor you could do this with a pastry blender, or even an electric mixer, but you'll need to chop the cherry, chocolate, and almonds ahead. Place the dough in the center of a 16 inch long sheet parchment paper. Plastic wrap would work too. Form dough into an 12-inch-long round log; and roll parchment up around it tightly to help get it smooth and perfectly round. There should be roughly 2 inches of extra parchment on either end; twist the ends up until tight and fold them over. Freeze the log until firm, at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 month).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. If desired, let the dough soften for about 15 minutes and roll entire log in coarse sugar to coat. Cut dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices and transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED CHERRY ALMOND NOUGAT ON RASPBERRY SHORTBREAD WITH CARAMELIZED RICE CEREAL

Steps:

• For the cookies: In a mixer with a paddle attachment cream the butter and powdered sugar until you reach a uniform consistency. Add the raspberry puree and raspberry powder, mix until incorporated. Add the flour and cornstarch and mix just until combined. Shape into a log, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut 1/8-inch slices from the log of dough, and bake on silicone mat until the edges begin to brown. Reserve until ready to assemble.
• For the nougat: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray, set aside. Place 6.6 ounces water, 21.9 ounces of the granulated sugar and the glucose into a very large pot. Cook until the candy thermometer reads 260 degrees F.
• While the sugar is cooking, boil the honey in a separate pot. Once the sugar mixture reaches the proper temperature, pour the honey into the syrup and continue cooking until the thermometer reads 275 degrees F. Pour the sugar mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the egg whites and the remaining 1.3 ounces granulated sugar while whisking on high speed. Once the mixture has cooled down, add the melted cocoa butter and continue mixing until just incorporated. Turn off the mixer, then fold in the almonds and cherries. Roll out onto the prepared baking sheet, and cool.
• For the caramelized cereal: Place 2 ounces water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and the vanilla paste in a pot and cook over medium heat. Do not stir. Once mixture reaches a golden-brown color, stir in the rice cereal and pour onto a silicone mat until cooled.
• In a double boiler, melt two-thirds of the dark chocolate. Pull from the heat. Slowly add in the remaining chocolate, and stir until it is completely melted. Your candy thermometer should read 90 degrees F. If it is too hot add more unmelted chocolate and repeat the same process. Check the temperature, once it reaches 90 degrees F, use immediately.
• To assemble: Roll a piece of nougat into a ball and place on top of a shortbread cookie. Dip in the tempered dark chocolate and top with the caramelized rice cereal. Allow the chocolate to set.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND SHORTBREAD BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch-square metal baking pan, then line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all 4 sides. Pulse the flour, almonds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and cayenne, if using, in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined (the dough will be crumbly). Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan (you can cover the dough with plastic wrap and use the bottom of a measuring cup to even it out).
• Prick the dough all over with a fork, then use a sharp knife to cut it into 18 strips. Top with almonds, lightly pressing them in. Sprinkle with the raw sugar. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 10 minutes.
• Bake until the shortbread is slightly puffed and firm, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately retrace the strips with a knife; cool completely in the pan on a rack. Lift up the parchment paper to remove the shortbread from the pan, then separate into bars. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.