This is the last of my shortbread series, if you hadn’t already figured out that I was doing that.  I actually just figured it out this morning.  I don’t think I have ever made more shortbread in a short period of time.  I have to say, I really did love all of them, but this one in particular was my favorite.

So even though my older daughter is not writing this post, this is all her.  I love to watch her grow, and hope that maybe I have rubbed off on her, at least my positive attributes that is.  People often ask what I do with all the stuff that I bake – especially because my husband can’t eat most of it (needs to be dairy-free) – well, for the most part I bake for my kids, my neighbors, and for any event I possibly can.  Basically I look for any excuse to bake something.  Well, I am seeing my daughter follow the same pattern.  The other week she came downstairs and asked if she could bake something.  I asked her why, and she told me that she met a 1st grader on the bus this year, and she really wanted to bring her cookies.  I couldn’t believe how sweet that was.  My daughter was her “5th grade buddy” on the bus – basically she looked out for her, and made sure she was ok.  I was so proud.  I told her to look through her books and find something she could make all by herself.

She found this recipe from The Cookie Book, and I thought it would be perfect.  It had very few ingredients although my daughter added the chocolate, and that was a very smart move – it really gave the cookies a nice flavor.  So, this was a funny recipe though.  We baked them in glass pie dishes like the recipe called for – and we didn’t spray the bottoms.  Well – one of them turned out just fine, and slid right out of the pan – the other one stuck completely to the bottom.  Good thing it made two rounds…her 1st grade friend got the good batch, and we got the crumbs of the failed batch.  Let me tell you though, those were the best crumbs ever – you could put them over yogurt, ice-cream, or just take a handful and pop them in your mouth.  I hope that when my younger daughter starts riding the bus this year that a really nice 5th grader is there to keep an eye on her – she doesn’t need to bake her cookies though – we’ve got that part covered…

Ingredients

• 8 ounces butter (2 sticks)
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup shaved dark chocolate

Preparation

Mix the first four ingredients with a mixer until a ball has formed.  Carefully mix in the shaved chocolate.  Place dough on a counter, and separate dough in half.  Gather dough into a ball, and flatten into a disk.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  Grease two 9″ pie plates.  Press dough into the pie plates until flat.  Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Utterly Buttery Shortbread with Chocolate