Butterscotch-Glazed Coffee Shortbread

I mentioned a cookie swap and three types of cookies I finally chose to take to the event, and this is the second of the three. This particular recipe is from last December’s Food and Wine issue which included an article about Christmas cookies from baking’s biggest talents. I usually read the December issues too late to actually make use of the recipes for the same year’s festivities, so I file all those great-looking recipes away and wait until the season arrives again. These little shortbread cookies from Flo Braker remained stuck in my head for the last year, and I knew they’d be part of this year’s cookie baking spree. The shortbread itself has finely ground espresso in it, the butterscotch glaze is made with brewed espresso, and the cookies are decorated with a chocolate-covered espresso bean.

The shortbread dough was made with butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, flour, and ground espresso. It was placed in a parchment-lined nine inch by thirteen inch baking pan, covered with plastic wrap, and pressed flat with the bottom of a glass. The plastic was removed, and the shortbread baked for about 50 minutes. The pan was removed from the oven and allowed to cool for about ten minutes before the bars were cut. It’s important to cut the bars before the shortbread finishes cooling to avoid complete crumbliness. Then, the butterscotch glaze was made from butter, brown sugar, brewed espresso, light corn syrup, and a pinch of salt. That mixture boiled for just a couple of minutes to thicken slightly, and then it was spread on the cooled shortbread. The glaze was scored with the tip of a knife along the cuts in the shorbread. Last, but before the glaze cooled, a chocolate-covered espresso bean was added to each cookie.

By baking this in a nine by thirteen pan, it made a thin shortbread which Braker intended for a flaky and light result. However, I couldn’t help wondering about trying this again in a smaller pan for thicker cookies. Not that I’m complaining about the texture of the cookies as they were. They were flaky and lovely, but I was just curious about making them a little studier. Now, there was absolutely nothing I wanted to change about the butterscotch espresso glaze except that next time I’ll double the quantity and pour some over ice cream or pound cake or my breakfast cereal. And, the glaze does set up nicely, and it really did hold the chocolate espresso beans in place. The cookies with the glaze were buttery and sweet, and that sweetness was well-balanced by the espresso flavor. I’m very glad I remembered this recipe from last year, and I’ll be making these cookies for years to come.

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