Recipe: chocolate dipped orange shortbread

It can be tough over the festive season to cater for those endless friends and family members who come to visit you over the holidays. Here’s a sweet treat everyone’s sure to enjoy! Made with orange zest and dipped in melted chocolate, these these shortbread biscuits will be a hit regardless of who the recipient is. Bake a batch in advance and whip them out after the main meal – just make sure you’re on hand to prevent any fights over the last one!

Recipe courtesy of Cook Vegetarian
Serves: 18
Cooking time: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients
100g Kerrygold butter, softened and diced, plus extra for greasing
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50g caster sugar
75g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
Grated zest of one orange

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a baking sheet with a little butter.

Sift the flour into a large bowl and, using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and orange zest and bring the whole mixture together to form a stiff dough – don’t be tempted to add any water!. Alternatively, briefly mix the ingredients in a food processor until they come together.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured worktop and roll out to about 5mm thick. Cut into rounds, fingers, squares or dinosaurs, then lift carefully onto the prepared baking sheet with a palette knife, spacing the biscuits evenly apart.

Bake for 6-10 minutes or until pale golden, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or so before transferring to a wire rack to cool down completely.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, dip the shortbread in about halfway into the chocolate, then allow any excess to drip off. Place on a plate to cool and set.