I'm on a low-carb diet. Blah. But, it's a good thing and now that I have made it past week 1, I am feeling much better about life in general...until I watched America's Test Kitchen and it was an episode on English desserts. They made shortbread. Funny thing about shortbread...I really, really like it. I love the butteryness (is that a word?) and I love the crumblyness (again?). I even like the grittyness (I am on one apparently) of it. It's just good.
Luckily for me...and you, as I am about to share, a month ago I made a very delicious recipe courtesy of Picky Palate. They were Chocolate Shortbread Bars and I found them to be most delicious! In fact, I don't often repeat recipes as I love to try new things, but these...these I will definitely be making again...even though...and this is going to sound kind of heartless; My Oldest did not find them to be enjoyable in the least. She took one little bite and declared them worthless. And then, Mr. Because I Can only gave them a 6 out of 10. But...did that stop him from eating several? I don't think so. I think they grew on him and he liked them more than he was letting on...these Shortcake bars...I would like to point out though, are one of the primary reasons I am now on a Low-Carb Diet. Eat with caution. They are addictive and you will want to eat the entire pan.
My Youngest and I declared them awesome and they got 10 out of 10 for us. So there you have it. There's a 50/50 chance of true love with these. Oh yeah, I used chocolate M & M's. My store didn't have white chocolate ones like Picky Palate recommends in her recipe. I would say if you are looking for a Valentines Day treat, these would be perfect! Do you notice the Valentine themed M & M's? Very clever!!! I even made them decorative by using an individual color for each strip. Do what feels right.
I am not going to put the recipe here, as I will let you scamper on over to the Picky Palate if you want to make them, but I am going to give a couple of tips...
This dough is some kind of thick!!! I used a piece of parchment and mushed it down evenly. I suppose you could use your hands, but I'm a lady. If you want to be extra fancy, you could smooth it out a 2nd time with the back of a spoon. I learned that on America's Test Kitchen.
You will want to make a sling out of foil before adding the dough to the pan. What that means is you will lay a piece of foil lengthwise so that the edges hang out a few inches, and then you will lay another piece of foil going crosswise (also so that the edges hang out above the pan) so that when you need to get the bars out, you just grab the flaps that are on the bottom, and lift up, out of the pan. Very fancy!
Now, time for a lesson on cutting your bars evenly!!
Step 1: Remove bars from pan and let cool completely
Step 2: Cute straight down the middle
Step 3: Cut straight down the middle of the two new pieces you just cut (now you will have 4 pieces)
Step 4: Rotate your bars and now cut straight down the middle of your 4 strips
Step 5: Cut straight down on either side and now you will have 16 fairly even squares.
There you have it. Now as long as you aren't on a low-carb diet, enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Luckily for me...and you, as I am about to share, a month ago I made a very delicious recipe courtesy of Picky Palate. They were Chocolate Shortbread Bars and I found them to be most delicious! In fact, I don't often repeat recipes as I love to try new things, but these...these I will definitely be making again...even though...and this is going to sound kind of heartless; My Oldest did not find them to be enjoyable in the least. She took one little bite and declared them worthless. And then, Mr. Because I Can only gave them a 6 out of 10. But...did that stop him from eating several? I don't think so. I think they grew on him and he liked them more than he was letting on...these Shortcake bars...I would like to point out though, are one of the primary reasons I am now on a Low-Carb Diet. Eat with caution. They are addictive and you will want to eat the entire pan.
My Youngest and I declared them awesome and they got 10 out of 10 for us. So there you have it. There's a 50/50 chance of true love with these. Oh yeah, I used chocolate M & M's. My store didn't have white chocolate ones like Picky Palate recommends in her recipe. I would say if you are looking for a Valentines Day treat, these would be perfect! Do you notice the Valentine themed M & M's? Very clever!!! I even made them decorative by using an individual color for each strip. Do what feels right.
I am not going to put the recipe here, as I will let you scamper on over to the Picky Palate if you want to make them, but I am going to give a couple of tips...
This dough is some kind of thick!!! I used a piece of parchment and mushed it down evenly. I suppose you could use your hands, but I'm a lady. If you want to be extra fancy, you could smooth it out a 2nd time with the back of a spoon. I learned that on America's Test Kitchen.
You will want to make a sling out of foil before adding the dough to the pan. What that means is you will lay a piece of foil lengthwise so that the edges hang out a few inches, and then you will lay another piece of foil going crosswise (also so that the edges hang out above the pan) so that when you need to get the bars out, you just grab the flaps that are on the bottom, and lift up, out of the pan. Very fancy!
Now, time for a lesson on cutting your bars evenly!!
Step 1: Remove bars from pan and let cool completely
Step 2: Cute straight down the middle
Step 3: Cut straight down the middle of the two new pieces you just cut (now you will have 4 pieces)
Step 4: Rotate your bars and now cut straight down the middle of your 4 strips
Step 5: Cut straight down on either side and now you will have 16 fairly even squares.
There you have it. Now as long as you aren't on a low-carb diet, enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Heather
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