This year’s version was inspired by the classic pecan/chocolate combo that we celebrate in our Pump Street at Home Series. They are also a great use for those Maple Roast Pecans that I don’t know how I ever lived without and now use with and on everything…….
Here, the triple chocolate (cocoa, dark chocolate and white chocolate) is accompanied with a hint of coffee. It was a later addition that just intensifies the chocolate flavour alongside the pecan crunch and makes theses delicately crisp, not too sweet rounds of magical splendour sing as they hit your tastebuds.
These shortbreads are a gift in many ways – the dough is happy in the fridge for a few days and in the freezer for a few months, you can slice and bake as needed and they last happily for a week, getting better with age (like the rest of us).
I urge you to make a batch or two of these, have them on hand for the season to serve to anyone who drops in for a visit, to give away as gifts, or as part of a festive smorgasbord.
But please, do not reserve these triple chocolate pecan shortbread only for the holiday season – they are an all year round tasty treat.
Triple Chocolate Pecan Shortbread
- 150g maple roast pecans
- 200g butter (I prefer salted), softened to room temperature
- 150g caster sugar (golden caster sugar also works well)
- 1tsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk
- 200g plain flour
- 50g cocoa powder
- pinch of salt
- 75g white chocolate calettes/chunks, roughly chopped
- 75g dark chocolate calettes/chunks, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 175C.
If you have not already made your maple roast pecans, make them now by drizzling them with 50g maple syrup and 1tsp salt and bake for 10 minutes, turning once. Even if you skip the syrup (which I do not recommend) toast the pecans in the oven for 10 minutes. This is an essential step to give the best texture and flavour here.
Allow the pecans to cool and roughly chop.
In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt and gently whisk together.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until they are smooth but not too fluffy (you can also do this by hand if you don’t have a mixer).
Add the espresso and mix so that its fully incorporated into the butter mixture, followed by the vanilla and egg yolk and continue to mix for another 30 seconds until combined.
Add the flour mixture (do not overmix) and stir through the chopped pecans and chocolate.
Do not worry, the dough will be soft.
Lay a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and tip the cookie dough into the centre. Press into a log shape and roll in the parchment, twisting each to close. The log should be approximately 30cm x 7cm. The wider the log the larger the cookie.
Place in the fridge and allow to rest for a minimum of 4 hours (and upto 2 days).
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170 C
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap and slice into 1cm thick discs.
Place on the cookie sheet with space around each disc as they will expand slightly.
Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on their diameter. They will be a little soft in the centre but will crisp as they cool.
Allow to cool completely on the cookie sheets.
These will keep for 5 days in a sealed container.
Have you made this dish?
Let me know what you think, share your efforts and any tweaks you made to the recipe on Instagram, don’t forget to tag #BuildingFeasts or email me on info@buildingfeasts.com
