I definitely have a weakness for shortbread cookies. The simplicity of a good shortbread, butter, sugar, flour, salt, definitely shines with high quality ingredients. And so I had a hankering for shortbread cookies the other day. But the butter in my fridge was the cheap kind, that probably would only shine slightly brighter than a burnt out bulb. So the dilema presented itself. How do you make a satisfying shortbread with lackluster ingredients? Cover it up with dulce de leche or peanut butter, and coat it with amazing milk chocolate! Ta Daa! I found two separate recipes that were pretty much the same concept, just with different fillings. The first is prepared with dulce de leche between the shortbread crust and the chocolate, and the other is spread simply with peanut butter, than coated in chocolate. I followed the Martha Stewart recipe for the shortbread base, and divided the dough between two 8 inch round cake pans.
The recipe yielded the perfect amount of dough to do this. The recipe calls for brown sugar, which results in a dough with a great flavor, though I have decided I am partial to granulated sugar-based shortbreads, just a bit more basic.
While the milk chocolate wafers were melting, Justin and I each claimed one of the shortbread crusts. He generously spread his with Peanut Butter, while I layered dulce de leche over mine. We then proceeded to pour the chocolate over this middle layer, and gently spread it into a smooth layer.
The results looked remarkably similar, and they were both home runs. We are slightly partial to the “Millionaire’s Shortbread” with the dulce de leche, as the sweet caramel blends really well with brown sugar shortbread crust. But the milk chocolate and peanut butter are always a winning combination in my book. Both of these shortbread variations will be made again, though I’ll make the crust with white sugar next time. Enjoy!
