Okay, I’m going to keep this short and sweet (and also a bit buttery). 🙂 Chocolate makes me happy, and so does butter. Put them together and, well, it’s an amazing combination of flavours and textures that makes this (recovering) sugarholic’s tastebuds jump for joy.
Now wait a moment here… I am a nutritionist and so of course I’ve taken steps to ensure these are a much healthier version.
First off, despite what you may have heard, butter is actually good for you! Why? Well, it’s a good source of saturated fats, which our cells need (in combination with the unsaturated guys) to make healthy cell membranes. Plus, butter (especially from grass-fed cows) is an excellent source of fat soluble vitamins, which can be tricky to obtain much of from food. Fat soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K2, and butter is especially high in vitamin A with a kick of D.
Further, these cookies contain sucanat, which is a less refined form of sugar; it contains more minerals than the white stuff, and doesn’t rob the body of nutrients like the others do. Spelt flour provides fibre, protein, and some minerals, and for many people, it’s digested much more easily than wheat flour.
Last but certainly not least, dark chocolate chips provide a hint of antioxidants with less sugar than the typical ones.
So, when you bite into one of these babies, you can feel good knowing that you’re eating something homemade, more nutrient-rich than its counterparts, and, well, downright delicious!
Chocolate Dipped Shortbread
1 cup butter, softened (I used salted)
½ cup sucanat
2 cups spelt flour
Âľ cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sucanat. Add spelt flour and knead with hands until combined. Press into ungreased 9×9” baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for about 25 minutes (sides should be just slightly starting to turn golden). Let cool in pan about half an hour, then flip over and remove shortbread from pan. Let cool completely, then cut into rectangles (or desired shape).
Put dark chocolate chips in a small mixing bowl, and place bowl over a small pot with a few inches of water in it. Bring the water to a boil, and stir chocolate chips in the bowl as they start to melt. Heat can be turned down so it stays warm but not boiling. Once fully melted, dip one cookie at a time into the melted chocolate. Dip as much of the cookie as you’d like! (You can also use a spoon to spread the chocolate on if you’d prefer.) Set on a baking sheet, and put in the fridge to allow chocolate to harden.
Voilà … a holiday favourite!