On to my dilemna...baking! I thought that since I had "so much" time before Christmas, I wouldn't have to rush - ha! I should have kept to my usual paranoid ways and started two weeks before, but not this year. That's a mistake I won't make again, reinforced power grid or not!
Every year I like buying the December issue of Canadian Living, especially for the cookie and treat recipes. Their recipes are tried and true and most that I've made have become family favourites. This year I planned to make Lemon Curd Sandwich Cookies - which didn't happen - and Chocolate Toffee Shortbread Cups, which I made this morning. They are a teenie treat and more like a candy than a cookie.
Ingredients for Shortbread Cups:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted, room temp butter
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
Toffee Chocolate Filling:
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup toffee bits
In a stand mixer, blend all shortbread ingredients until fully incorporated. Do not refrigerate. Roll by 2 tsp increments, to make 48 balls of dough. Because I love using my graduated baking scoops, I made sure I had the right amount and then scooped them all out very quickly. This is enough for two mini muffin pans. Press gently into the bottoms and up sides of mini muffin pans. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Once the cups are chilled, spoon rounded tsp into each cup. Bake until edges are light golden, 20-25 minutes. Because my oven gets quite hot, they were done in 20 minutes, so you should watch to make sure they don't over brown. Allow to cool and then remove from pan gently, using the tip of a sharp knife to lift out the cups.
They're sweet, buttery and flaky. I'll definitely make them again next year! Now I just have to pick a weekend to use up a jar of Yorkshire Lemon Curd for those other cookies...
