Almond chocolate-chip shortbread cookies

Two weeks ago I went to see some Scottish music at a 9 Nights of Music event. (9 nights of music is free to all and takes place at the Minnesota History Center on Tuesday nights in the summer.  If you haven't been, you should try it!)

Since I had friends coming to hear the music with me I decided to make them a Scottish dessert.  My favorite is sticky-toffee pudding, but that is more of a winter/fall thing and since it is best served warm, it wasn't the perfect thing.  

I ended up making shortbread cookies.  Something that is highly portable, almost universally enjoyed, and easy to change depending on what you like to add as mix-ins.  They can also be easily fancied up with chocolate drizzle or coating, or by rolling the edges in sugars or nuts.  Super simple, but also super versatile.  And very, very Scottish!

I particular, I made almond shortbread rounds with mini chocolate chips.  I've used all sorts of recipes before, but this time I adapted from Martha Stewart's Ice-box Shortbread recipes and made the recipe that appears below.   

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (in all honesty, I only had margarine and not butter in my fridge, so I used that instead.  The shortbread was still delicious)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (or more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (next time, I'm going to leave this out, I think.  My other shortbread recipes don't have salt unless the other flavors involved really call for it)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
• about 1/2 cup or a bit more of mini chocolate chips.  

Directions

1. Mix/beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt, until smooth.  
2. Add flour, mixing just until dough forms
3. Stir in chocolate chips
4. Divide dough in half and place each half on floured parchment paper
5. With floured hands, roll each dough portion into a log, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter.
6. Wrap logs in the paper and refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour). 
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
8. Unwrap log and slice dough into about 3/8 inch thick rounds.
9. Put rounds on parchment paper covered baking sheet, about 1 inch apart
10. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges
11. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then remove to cool completely 

Hint: I baked one log of dough the day I made it and the other I pulled out of the fridge and baked the next morning.  However, if you plan on storing the dough for longer, I would wrap the parchment in saran wrap or put in in a ziploc bag to keep it from drying out too much.