Chocolate Covered Praliné Shortbread

I love shortcrust pastry of any kind. Crunchy tart crust, delicate butter cookies, even Hamantaschen. Every well-baked crispy shortcrust pastry makes me happy – the crackling, the taste of the baked butter, I think it’s a wonderful product.

Of course, if this crispy dough comes with chocolate, it’s even better. One of the products I can’t resist are the chocolate-coated sablé fingers of our friend Christine Ferber from Alsace. When she equips us with a package, I finish it already on the train to Paris. Catastrophe!

This time I decided to make a very simple recipe consisting of shortbread cookies that are easy to make. On top of them, there is a delicate layer of praliné that you can make or buy. All of this is covered in chocolate. For me, the perfect trinity is the crunchy dough, the nutty praliné, and the sweet chocolate. Of course, you can make just the cookies without the praliné, without the chocolate, with the chocolate, with dark chocolate, or with milk chocolate, however you want.

Chocolate Covered Praliné Shortbread
Square pan 25cm
10-12 cookies, depends on the size

Ingredients
200g butter, softened
100g sugar
300g all-purpose flour
10g Fleur-de-Sel or 5g salt
150g praliné paste, recipe inside
400g dark/milk chocolate drops, or chopped 

Preparation
1. Grease and line a 25-cm square pan with parchment paper.
2. Beat soft butter and sugar until light and smooth.
3. Add flour and salt, beat until mostly combined, knead lightly if required.
4. Transfer the dough into the pan and press to obtain a smooth surface (don’t press too hard).
5. Mark circles on the dough using a 5-6 cm round cookie cutter and prick all over with a fork. Refrigerate for two hours.
6. Bake in a preheated oven to 180°C for about 20-25 minutes until the dough stabilizes and turns slightly golden.
7. Cool to room temperature, using the cookie cutter separate the pre-marked shortbread rounds.

Assembling
8. Pipe a generous layer of praliné paste on each shortbread bar. Put in the freezer for two hours.
9. Melt chocolate (tempering is recommended).
10. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip each Shortbread round in the melted chocolate, then place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator to set. 
It is best served at room temperature.

Bon-Appétit
Sharon