BROWN SUGAR PECAN SHORTBREAD

This recipe originated in one of the Women's magazines, Family Circle or Women's Day, a very long time ago.  It has only a few ingredients, but they are really, really good.  Their's, of course, were somehow perfectly rectangular, while mine are more likely to be shaped like this.  I'd hate to waste cookie dough by cutting it square, and I usually run out of patience before they're perfect.  But truly, it's all about the taste.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (4.875 oz) AP flour (here I use a measuring cup, this is a very old recipe)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

Stir together the flour and salt in a medium sized bowl.

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl at medium speed until the mixture is well-blended.

Reduce the mixer speed to low.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well blended.  Stir in the toasted pecans.

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap; shape into 6 x 4 1/2 inch rectangle.

Wrap securely in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours or until it is completely chilled.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut chilled dough in half lengthwise.

Like the cleaver?  I just got it and I feel extremely Top Chef-y when I use it.

Work with one half of the dough at a time, and keep the remaining half of the dough wrapped and in the refrigerator.  Cut the dough cross-wise into about 3/8-inch thick slices.  The recipe called for 1/4-inch thick slices, but I generally got crumbles when I tried that.  Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing 1-inch apart.  Repeat with the remaining half of the dough.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking.  Remove baking sheets to wire racks and cool.

Melt chocolate in a container that will go in the microwave and will give you a good vessel for dipping.  I tried lots of things, but this glass storage container is both deep enough and not too wide, which gives you a good depth of chocolate to dip into.  I microwaved half of the chocolate, in 10 second bursts.  Remember that chocolate may look intact when it has almost turned to liquid, so it is important to check it and stir it frequently so you don't burn it.  After dipping the first batch of cookies, I melted the rest of chocolate in the same container.

Now for the fun part:  Dip each shortbread diagonally into the melted chocolate.  Then place on waxed paper on a baking sheet.

I've had best results placing the cookies in the freezer for about 30 minutes.  At that point, the chocolate will be set and will peel right off of the waxed paper.