Chunky Toblerone Shortbread and Reliable Favourites

If you're a Canadian and it's Christmastime, it's almost sacrilege to admit that you don't like shortbread.  Really, it is - if you don't live in a country with a very Anglo history, you wouldn't understand why this would be true.  Until I tried this particular recipe, I was convinced my reaction to eating shortbread would never change.  Why bother with these really bars or rounds that were more dry than anything else?  Well, I'm happy to not only eat my words, but these cookies now. ;)

There are a lot of versions of Toblerone shortbread.  I tried an Anna Olsen recipe two years ago that my co-workers enjoyed but I didn't.  Since both Meg and Duncan, along with my co-workers, are fans of shortbread I thought I'd try another recipe version.  I found this on Kraftcanada.com and it couldn't be any simpler than this!  The Toblerone works so well because it's a nougat and will not turn into a runny chocolate mess when baked.  Don't be horrified at the amount of butter in the recipe - it yields four dozen cookies, so it's not like you're eating an entire stick in each cookie. ;)

Ingredients:
2 cups butter (that's four sticks), softened
1 cup sugar
3-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 bars Toblerone Swiss Milk Chocolate, chopped (that's two 100 gram bars if you're in Canada)
icing sugar to decorate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.  I prepped four at once and was able to fit one dozen on each pan.

Beat butter and sugar in mixing bowl  until fluffy.  If possible use a stand mixer since it's easier with this quantity of flour.  In a separate bowl combine flour and cornstarch.  Add gradually to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition.

Using either a tablespoon or a 1 inch scoop, drop on baking sheet at least one inch apart.  I used a scoop because I like getting evenly sized cooiked.

The recipe suggested baking them for 20 minutes, which I did for the first batch, but they browned a teenie bit too much for liking.  For the second batch, I only gave them 18 minutes and they were perfect.

Remove to wire racks, allow to cool completely and dust with icing sugar.

I also made four dozen Triple Chocolate Cookies and five dozen Raspberry Walnut Thumbprints -

Gotta do some more baking though...