Hi lovelies! Lindsay here from Fleur de Sel. So happy and honored that the lovely Jacquelyn asked me to guest post for her today while she is off in South Africa. After being absolutely blown away by Jacquelyn’s drop dead gorgeous photographs of the Amalfi Coast, I seriously cannot wait to see the photographic evidence of her South African adventures. So excited to live vicariously through her sure-to-be-stunning images!
In the meantime, with the dipping temperatures outside here in San Francisco, I crave nothing more than to stay in, decked out in comfy sweatpants and slippers, baking the day away. When I first started dating my fiance, who is English, I made him shortbread cookies for our first Christmas together, thinking they were appropriately British. I have since carried on this tradition each winter, whipping up batches of shortbread cookies. This year, I added toasted pecans to the dough, painted on a thin swoosh of melted dark chocolate and sprinkled a bit of fleur de sel on top for a contrast of flavor and texture. Perfect with a cup of hot tea on a cold winter afternoon.
Click below for the recipe!
- 1/2 c. pecans
- 3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 c. sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped {I used Guittard}
- Fleur de sel, for sprinkling
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- 2. In a medium, dry skillet, toast pecans over medium heat unit fragrant and golden brown. Remove from heat and chop pecans finely.
- 3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Add the toasted, chopped pecans. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
- 4. Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut with a 2 inch circular cutter or the top of a glass. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- 5. When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the chocolate in a glass bowl. Fill a small saucepan with water until it comes about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan and set the pan over medium low heat. Place bowl filled with chocolate on top of saucepan to create a double boiler. Stir chocolate with a wooden spoon vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
- 6. Using a small pastry brush, apply a thin coat of melted chocolate to the top of each cooled cookie, and immediately sprinkle with a bit of fleur de sel.
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