Chocolate-Pecan Shortbread

After making cupcakes, cakes, and cheesecakes numerous times, I decided that I really need to start making cookies and bars more often. (I still haven't plucked up the courage to make a pie, and I would like to make a tart, but i have yet to buy a tart pan!) After hours of flipping through a new book of mine that is filled with pages and pages of cookie recipes, I decided on making a biscuit that I'm very fond of...shortbread! Yes, it's full of fatty goodness, but I think it's okay to indulge once in awhile. I love to eat the Scottish Walkers shortbread biscuits with milk as a late night snack (very bad, i know). However, this recipe is a yummy twist on the plain shortbread biscuit as it has two other delicious ingredients - chocolate and pecans! I never used to like nuts before, but now I find that nuts really add something extra (in a good way) to many baked goods, especially cookies. Whether it's walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, or pecans...nuts really make things more flavorful. This shortbread is no exception...if you love pecans, you'll really love this biscuit, AND the chocolate chips and chocolate drizzle on top really add a perfect touch. This recipe is from an excellent book, which I highly recommend, from Reader's Digest called  Cookies: 1,001 Mouthwatering Recipes From Around The World. The best part is that the recipe is SO easy to make, and the biscuit just melts in your mouth.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner's/icing sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut up
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 2 oz semisweet chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch springform pans.

2. Sift the flour, confectioner's sugar, cornstarch, and salt into a large bowl.

3. Using a pastry blender (I used a food processor), cut in the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Mine turned into a kind of dough, which I found is okay.)

4. Stir in the chocolate chips and the pecans. (Although it's not in the recipe, I chopped the pecans in a food processor into fine crumbs then toasted them in  the oven for 5-7 minutes to bring out the flavor. To toast the pecans in the oven, place the crumbs on a foil covered baking tray and place them in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F.)

5. Firmly press the mixture evenly into the prepared pans to form smooth, even layers. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until just golden, rotating the pans halfway through for even baking.

6. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then loosen and remove the springform sides. Let cool completely.

7. Cut each round into sixteen wedges (you can even do this after drizzling the chocolate). Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water, and drizzle it over the cookies. Let the cookies stand for 30 minutes until the chocolate sets.

Note: This recipe makes 32 cookies, and the cookies will keep for 5 days.