Short Bread Cookies with Chocolate Dipping.

This is one of the cookies that I baked during the holidays.I had a list of cookies planned out for the holidays, but this one sneaked into the list at the last minute. I usually avoid short bread cookies for their high butter content but the cute picture in Joy of Baking attracted me very much. I had all the ingredients on hand including the chocolate, so decided to make these in the last minute. One more reason to make these was to put my cookie cutter to use as the other ones did'nt need them. 

Source : Joy of Baking 
Ingredients :
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract.


For the dipping:
180 gms of cooking chocolate


Method:
 Sift the flour and salt in a bowl.
In an other bowl beat the butter with a hand mixer until fluffy.
To this add the sugar and beat until creamy.Add the vanilla essence and beat for another minute.
Tip in the flour mixture and mix gently. Take the dough out on a lightly floured surface and brig it together with your hands. Flatten it to disc shape , cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for atleast one hour


Preheat the Oven to 180C
Roll out the dough to a quarter inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.
Place the cut out cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.

Note:
I did everything as per the recipe and refrigerated the dough for about 2 hrs. When I was ready to roll the dough it became so hard that it cracked and crumbled. After few minutes of trying I decided to add a tablespoon of water and microwave for 30 sec. Then I was able to roll it out easily between parchment paper and cut into shapes. I dont have a clue about why this happened , but it worked out very well in the end. So if you face the same problem, just go ahead and do the same :)

For the chocolate dipping:
Place 90 gms of chopped chocolate on a heat proof bowl place over a pot of simmering water.
Once the chocolate has melted remove from heat and add the remaining chocolate.
Mix with a wooden sppon until completly melted and glossy.
Dip the cookies one by one and place it on tray lined with parchment paper.Refrigerate for atleast 20 mins or until the chocolate is hardenned.

Sending these to Srivalli's Kids Delight - Chocolate event.