White Chocolate Dipped Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Hello, friend.

This last weekend I had the honor of being one of two ushers in my cousin Katelyn's wedding. Katelyn and her fiancé Mark officially tied the knot this past Saturday. Countless family members and close friends came from near and far for the celebratory affair. With our fresh-flower boutonnieres pinned to our shirts and our feet set to march down the church sanctuary aisles, all kept to the time of the organ music heard on the balcony above, it quickly flew by with a single blink. Happy tears and joyful embraces were in abundance. At the reception, Jon played MC and overall comedian for the evening. The passing day and budding night were full of happiness, tears, memories, and thoughts on love. For the happy couple, I decided to put together a wedding inspired food care basket, filled with baked goods sweet and salty alike. From chocolate covered popcorn to apple pie cookies, it was the sweetest way to celebrate love.

To Katelyn & Mark, congratulations! 

In addition to baking, ushering, and working on a culinary care package, I had the chance to spend that Sunday evening photographing with my friend and fellow photographer Morgan. We have been out freelance shooting a couple of times in the past, including downtown and the Japan gardens. With the glimmering rays of twilight forming in the distance, our photographical journey lead us to one of the larger parks in the city. With rain clouds quickly forming overhead, we took our chances and strolled through the prairiescape. 

The park, with its beautifully paved walking paths for runners, bicyclist, walkers, and dreamers alike to enjoy is one of my favorites. The park strives to maintain the originality of the Midwest prairie by conserving the wildlife and plants of the region. They also house a quaint community garden and a variety of unique pieces of modern art by local artists in the area scattered all throughout the paths. About ¾ of the way through the trail, it began to pour down rain. With our camera bags tucked under our arms, we ran for our cars. Even dancing between raindrops, it was still a memorable evening. Follow Morgan and the rest of her amazing work on her Facebook page. 

White Chocolate Dipped Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Recipe adapted from Foodwishes.com

I have a confession; I can never say no to Girl Scout cookies, especially the shortbread kind. Shortbread cookies are my culinary kryptonite. Pies, bread, and pastries are delicious and cheesecakes will always have a special place in my heart, but shortbread trumps all. The indescribable first bite, so warm and buttery, yet subtly sweet and aromatic. Adding the rosemary just creates a much-appreciated flavor combination. The white chocolate may be an excessive addition, but a much-beloved one none the less. Life is better dipped in a little chocolate. Also, remember to use two sticks of butter. When making this recipe, I got halfway through the brittle dough and realized that I had only added half the amount of butter. These still turned out beautiful and delicious, but don’t forget the butter. You don’t want your shortbread dreams ruined.

Ingredients

• 1 cup/227g {2 sticks} unsalted butter, cold, cut into thin slices
• 1/2 cup/100g white sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 tsp fine table salt
• 2 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
• 2 ¼ cups/288g all-purpose flour
• 6 oz quality white chocolate

Directions  

Pre-step: Turn on the record player and blast some terrible hipster music because it just feels right.

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. In a large bowl, add in the butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and rosemary. Using the back of a large spoon or spatula, combine all the ingredients together until well incorporated. Toss in the flour and work by hand until combined thoroughly with the butter mixture.  The appearance of the mixture should go from flour-like crumbs to buttery crumbs. When you reach this point, stop mixing.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and beging forming the dough into a rectangular shape (about ½ inch thick). Place a layer of plastic wrap over the dough and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick.
3. Using a medium sized cookie cutter or biscuit cutter*, cut out the desired amount of cookies. Transfer the cookies to a parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing each cookie ½ inch apart. Sprinkle a pinch of white sugar over the tops of each cookie. Take a fork and carefully poke four incisions onto the tops of each cookie. The fork incisions will allow the cookie to bake more evenly, plus they look fancy! Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before adding the chocolate.
4. In a small microwave safe bowl, add 6oz of quality white chocolate. Microwave in increments of 30 seconds, stirring after each time. Dip the cooled cookie in the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set up before enjoying.

*your DIY tip of the day: if you are with out possession of a cookie or biscuit cutter, use the rim of a regular drink glass as your cutter.