I love to bake! For holidays that traditionally involve giving gifts of food (both Christmas and Purim, at my house), I start my baking weeks in advance and freeze dozens of different types of cookies to give to my friends and family. I’ll even bake during the summer -- heat be damned, that’s why we have air conditioning! -- though I tend to focus more on crisps and cobblers and pies when the available fruits are in such perfect form. Today, after a busy week at work, I just felt like baking cookies … and so bake I did, despite needing to make my regular Saturday morning trip to the Farmers Market to see what produce I can find, and also needing to buy some eggs while I’m there. And so what did I decide on as I perused dozens of options with limited resources?

Dark Chocolate Shortbread with Toasted Pecans … perfect with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee, or just “as is.”

Shortbread requires no eggs, so I didn’t have to use up my one remaining specimen that might make a nice breakfast tomorrow morning. It does, however, require a lot of butter, which I fortunately had an entire pound of. Butter is one of the reasons shortbread tastes so good, and also why it’s so wonderfully crumbly: the fat coats the flour, thus preventing the gluten strands from getting long and elastic, which would toughen the cookie. Thus the name "shortbread," from short strands of gluten.

Both of my grandmothers were from cultures where shortbread is essential to the cuisine: my paternal grandmother was born and raised in County Cork in Ireland, and my maternal grandmother was a proud Scottish descendant of Rob Roy MacGregor. While they always made traditional shortbread with butter, sugar and flour, which I admittedly love, I usually tweak it … sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

I’ve made Mojito shortbread, with a hint of rum extract as well as lemon and lime zest flecked throughout (and a sprig of mint for garnish on the serving plate). I’ve also added candied ginger and mini chocolate chips to the basic recipe, a variation which won a $250 category prize in a 2003 baking contest at Zehnder's in Frankenmuth. (Ginger Shortbread recipe) And I’ve made a triple-layer indulgence with a chocolate shortbread base, a brownie filling, and a coconut frosting on top … yes, I can feel my teeth aching even as I type out the description; it’s really rich and really, really good! Today, though, I just wanted something quick and simple.

There is no reason for people to use tubes of cookie dough or instant mixes or, worse, those pull-apart refrigerated squares that just require separation from the pack and being plopped onto a baking sheet. Shortbread can be mixed in 5 minutes, and then takes only 30 minutes to bake. This is also a great recipe to make with kids because it won’t try their patience; and they love to dump ingredients in a bowl, stir the dough and - best of all - press the dough into the pan with damp hands, leaving little handprints that will unfortunately bake away but which are most entertaining before being placed into the oven!

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Shortbread with Toasted Pecans

1 cup softened butter (don’t even try shortening or other substitutes; butter is essential for flavor!) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder (regular is fine, too) 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup white flour 1/3 cup pecans

Grease a 9”x9” baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, salt and sugar. Stir in cocoa powder and cinnamon. Stir in both flours.

Place the pecans into a small skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, just until fragrant. Remove from heat and chop the pecans; add to the mixing bowl and combine well.

With damp hands (to prevent the dough from sticking to you), press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes until the edges are just turning golden.

Wait 5 minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut a 1/4” border around all of the edges. Cut the dough into 4 columns, then cut across into 6 rows to make 24 cookies. Leave the cookies in the pan to cool completely. (Shortbread is fragile, so if you don’t score it while it’s warm, it will be difficult to cut later on.)

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures as she tries to win prizes, feeds hungry teenagers and other loved ones, and generally just has fun in the kitchen. The phrase "You Should Always Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured next to the blog's title) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15, and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here!