Making dinner for forty people is always an ordeal and this first cook of the quarter, was no exception. It took some time but I think the result was pretty darn good based on the reviews we received afterwards. We ended up with reviews like “this was my favorite meal of the quarter so far” and “dinner tonight was awesome!” and “Your food is always so good!” I even got demands for this recipe. But it was a close one, dinner could have gone either way, especially after a couple of emails telling us we wouldn't be able to get all the ingredients we wanted (no asparagus, no zucchini, pine nuts were outrageously expensive, no tahini etc) So a change of plans was called for. The risotto recipe had to change, we added in caramelized butternut squash (I will never do that for forty people again, peeling and cutting butternut squash, not fun) and these cookies. I'd say we ended up with a pretty delicious meal which consisted of barley risotto with broccoli and hazelnuts, caramelized butternut squash, hummus, salad, and these chocolate chip shortbread cookies.
I learned how to make them from my godmother a while back and they've been my go to cookie every since. They are literally the easiest cookies you could ever make (okay, almost). You don't need a mixer, you only need a few ingredients, and they're pretty difficult to mess up. I made them in Spain with less than ideal ingredients (try a bar of 1 dollar grocery store chocolate) for my co-workers at my internship, and lets just say the reviews were awesome. My co-worker raving about them was enough to send over a co-worker from the office next door saying he and all his office mates were drooling over the description. With that and the simplicity of the cookies, I knew that I would be making these for my co-op sometime this year. So after the difficulty of getting ingredients for the cookies we wanted to make, I turned to this simple recipe. Enjoy!
Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies (credit to my godmother, Monica, for this recipe)
2 sticks of butter, softened (226 gr de mantequilla)*
1 cup of confectioner's sugar (125 gr de azúcar glas)
1 teaspoon of vanilla (1 cucharadita de vainilla)
½ teaspoon of salt (½ cucharadita de sal)
2 ¼ cups of flour (225+ gr de harina)
1 cup of chocolate chips (175 gr de gotas de chocolate)
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375°F/190ºC.
2) Simply using a wooden spoon, cream together butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mix in flour then add chocolate chips. Note that you may need to use your hands to thoroughly combine this dough since it tends to be crumbly
4) Roll dough into 1 inch balls, place on a cookie sheet, and press down about halfway with a fork. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are just barely golden
*Note: This recipe comes with ingredient conversions from when I was baking in Spain.
