Melt-in-your-mouth chocolate shortbread cookies

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 36 pieces, you will need:

• 1 85 g icing sugar
• 2 170 g butter
• 3 15 g powdered cocoa
• 4 2 pinches fine (or table) salt
• 5 1 egg
• 6 210 g flour
• 7 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Total weight: 590 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
35 min.	2 hours 10 min.	15 min.	2 hours 55 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Separate the egg whites from the yolks at 1 egg. In the bowl of a mixer, combine 85 g icing sugar, 170 g butter, 15 g powdered cocoa, and 2 pinches fine (or table) salt.
2	Turn on the mixer at a medium-low speed until the mixture is creamy and chocolatey. Turn off the mixer, add the egg yolk and 210 g flour, then turn it back on at low speed...
3	...until the mixture is smooth.
4	Pour the dough onto your work surface, and shape it into a large ball.
5	Cut the ball in half, then roll each half into a cylindrical log about 3 cm (1.2 inch) in diameter. This isn't easy because the dough is very soft, but you can refine the shape in the next step.
6	Wrap each cylinder, and once you've done that, it'll be easier to roll them more carefully. Put them in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, or even overnight.
7	After that time has elapsed, preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F). Remove the plastic wrap from one of the cylinders—which has become quite hard after being in the fridge—and use a pastry brush to coat its entire surface with egg white.
8	Then sprinkle it with 4 tablespoons granulated sugar.
9	Then cut it into slices about 1 cm (0.4 inches) thick. The thin layer of granulated sugar on the slice gives it a shiny appearance known as a “diamond.”
10	Do the same for the other cylinder, and place the slices on a sheet of parchment paper laid out on a baking sheet.
11	Bake for 12 minutes.
12	Let them cool on a wire rack. Your melt-in-your-mouth chocolate shortbread cookies are ready to enjoy.

Remarks

Keep a close eye on the baking time; to ensure they stay tender, the shortbread cookies must not be overbaked.
If you don't have granulated sugar in step 8, use powdered sugar instead.

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