Cookbook challenge
Editor Keith Kendrick makes salted butter & chocolate chunk shortbread from Alison Roman’s debut book
When someone says they’ve just tried the best cookies they’ve ever eaten, you have to sit up and take notice. As we all know, cookies are one of the simple pleasures of life, enhancing the joy of a cup of tea, or delivering a sweet hit of energy to combat the midafternoon slump. But, still, a cookie is only a cookie, isn’t it? Not when they’re made with salted butter and chocolate chunks to make a divine crunchy shortbread, they’re not.
These babies are the creation of Alison Roman, the former senior food editor for America’s prestigious Bon Appetit! magazine, she has 117,000 followers on
Instagram (@alisoneroman). When she posted the image of her shortbread from her debut Dining In cookbook, the internet went bonkers, garnering nearly 6,000 likes. As Alison says, ‘I’ve always found chocolate chip cookies to be… too sweet, too soft, or with too much chocolate. There’s a lot of room for improvement.’ And improve them she has, by taking all her ‘favourite parts’ to invent something else entirely. Alison shares her secrets: ‘Made with lots of salted butter, the dough has just enough flour to hold it together and the right amount of light brown sugar to suggest a chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate is cut into chunks to prevent chip congregation, and once the dough is formed into a cylindrical log, the whole thing gets rolled in demerara sugar for the crispiest-ever edges.’ So how easy are they to make? The short (bread) answer is: very – so easy, in fact, that I’ve made them more than half a dozen times. Here’s how to do it: using an electric mixer, beat together 225g butter, 112g granulated sugar and 42g light brown sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract until super light. Add 350g plain flour to make a dough, then add 170g dark chocolate chunks. Divide the dough in two and wrap each portion in cling film, then roll into a log shape. Chill for 2 hrs, then unwrap. Brush with egg and roll in demerara sugar. Slice each log into 1/2-inch-thick rounds, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 12-15 mins. Cool. Share. Devour. Repeat. These really are the best cookies I've ever eaten. As Alison says, ‘Why would I make another chocolate chip cookie ever again?’
For the full recipe go to bonappetit. com/recipe/salted-butter-andchocolate-chunk-shortbread.