STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW AND MAKE THESE COOKIES!!!  I’m not kidding.  Even if you are reading this at 3 am, go get butter, sugar and flour–I know you have them.  And cut up a Hershey Bar (you know the one you hid under your pillow).  Seriously, these cookies got a reputation a couple of years ago as “quite possibly the world’s best cookies”.  I saw them done on the Today Show and printed the recipe from the internet.  Then, like most things, the recipe got buried under a bunch of others.  Last week I finally made them.  What the heck was wrong with me???? Almost two years of my life wasted without these cookies.   I will say you have to be a Shortbread Fan, like I am.  Because Shortbread is in a whole world of it’s own, due to it’s texture.  Soft, flaky, slightly crunchy….And the light sprinkle of salt on top just makes them perfect.  Try them!

CHOCOLATE CHUNK SHORTBREAD SALTED COOKIES (Allison Roman)

2 1/2 sticks COLD butter, cut into chunks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

6 oz. chocolate (use your favorite.  (I just cut up two Hershey bars, but you can do any good chunk chocolate that you like)

1 beaten egg

Demerara sugar (this is where I did a U Turn). I just used raw sugar and mixed it with some brown.  To be honest, I’ve never heard of Demerara sugar.  I looked for it, but couldn’t find it anywhere.  So, those little brown packets of raw sugar you get at restaurants work perfectly.  It just needs to be a good chunky sugar that doesn’t melt easily when you hit it with the egg wash.

Flaky sea salt

Mix butter and sugars in a mixer till smooth and add vanilla.  Slowly add flour, and when the batter is mixed, lay it out on waxed  paper or plastic wrap and roll into a long cylinder (about the size of a skinny rolling pin).  Wrap tightly and chill at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.  When you are ready to bake, take out the cylinder and brush with beaten egg.  Roll in sugar, cut into 1/4″ cookies and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat.  Sprinkle lightly with Sea or Kosher salt.  Bake at 350 degrees 12-14 minutes.  (Mine took 14 to get barely brown around the edges). These will make you cheat on your diet!  Ask me how I know…..

NOTE on Shortbread:  A few years ago I took shortbread cookies to my Grandson’s 2nd grade class on his birthday.  A few days later the teacher thanked me but told me that one little girl couldn’t eat them because she is allergic to eggs.  I was SO upset, because shortbread doesn’t have any eggs!  So, first I made an entire batch for that little girl to take home, and then I began a new practice:  Anytime I give food to ANYONE I send a note with the ingredients!