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I'm not one for baking but my sister sent me this recipe asking me to please make it and I absolutely love cooking for others - in fact I think I get more enjoyment cooking for others than I do myself so of course I said yes! 

<h2>You don't make friends with salad but butter + chocolate...?</h2>

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Granted, this recipe did use a lot of "naughty" ingredients such as butter, chocolate, sugar but what is life without some sweet treats right? I often bake for my work colleagues and I planned to bring these in but between my sister and my husband @ohboy who has the biggest sweet tooth I know, there were only a handful of cookies leftover so unfortunately work missed out! At least I know they were good though as I was quite sceptical starting out because  **a)** I don't bake very well **b)** I can make cookies but had never attempted to make shortbread before - so I was very pleasantly surprised that they weren't a complete disaster, phew!

https://imgur.com/pTh5HhT.jpg

They turned out pretty good right?! The way you bake shortbread is quite different to normal cookies as the texture is crumbly as opposed to chewy, not to mention the cookie is usually thicker than what I prefer. Anyway, let's get started!

<h2>Recipe</h2>

**Step One**

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Cream the butter and sugars together in a standing mixer.

**Step Two**

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Once it's creamed, add the flour, chocolate, pinch of salt and vanilla extract.

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**Step Three**

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Tip the mixture out and shape into 2 sausage log shapes. Make sure it's rolled and packed very tightly otherwise when you cut it, it might just crumble and break everywhere and make a mess - I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE, IT WAS TRAUMATIC :( - scroll to the bottom to see evidence lol

Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

**Step Four**

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Slice into about 1cm thick slices using a very sharp knife with a smooth motion. 

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Place on a baking tray evenly spaced - I would recommend spacing it even more as mine expanded quite a lot. 

**Step Five**

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Into the oven on low (160C) for about 25 minutes (or until brown on the edges) and you're done!

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

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Overall I was really pleased with the cookies, for me personally it didn't change my opinion about shortbread, I really don't prefer the crumbly type of cookie, I like it moist, chewy and gooey. This was too brittle for me but my sister and husband seemed to like it so that's what matters!

I really enjoyed baking these and I found it quite satisfying to roll the mixture into two big logs - I know I'm a big, sad loser if this is the kind of thing that makes me happy but whatever! Each to their own right? ;) 

Hope you guys enjoyed this one...until next time! 

@phamished xx

**ALL PICTURES ABOVE ARE MY OWN TAKEN ON MY SONY RX100 AND SONY NEX-5N**...also cooked in my own kitchen which I clean with my tiny, little hands every night to keep it spick and span for the photos!! Someone please badger @ohboy to help me clean more !! I'll send you cookies :) 

https://imgur.com/RT08WP0.jpg

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For shits and giggles here are a few pics of the failed version of this cookie...goes to show that you shouldn't think everything you see online is made perfect every time, the first attempt was a huge #fail but I recovered and restored balance to the force.