Mexican Chocolate And Pepita Shortbread Stars Recipes

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE AND PEPITA SHORTBREAD STARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Grind pepitas in coffee grinder or blender until coarsely ground. Set aside. Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Transfer chocolate to large bowl. Cool slightly.
• Add butter, 1/2 cup sugar, ground cinnamon and salt to melted chocolate. Using electric mixer, beat until well blended. Add flour and ground pepitas and stir until just blended.
• Roll out dough on floured surface to -inch thickness. Using 3-inch star cookie cutter dipped into flour, cut out cookies. Transfer cookies to ungreased baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Reroll dough scraps; cut out additional cookies and place on baking sheets. Brush cookies with egg white; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake cookies until just firm to touch, about 18 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer to rack; cool.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND SHORTBREAD BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch-square metal baking pan, then line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all 4 sides. Pulse the flour, almonds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and cayenne, if using, in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined (the dough will be crumbly). Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan (you can cover the dough with plastic wrap and use the bottom of a measuring cup to even it out).
• Prick the dough all over with a fork, then use a sharp knife to cut it into 18 strips. Top with almonds, lightly pressing them in. Sprinkle with the raw sugar. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 10 minutes.
• Bake until the shortbread is slightly puffed and firm, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately retrace the strips with a knife; cool completely in the pan on a rack. Lift up the parchment paper to remove the shortbread from the pan, then separate into bars. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

COOKIES 'N CREAM SHORTBREAD STARS

Steps:

• Line a 13-by-9-inch sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream at low speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
• Add the 2 1/4 cups flour. Mix at low speed just until it's incorporated. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cookie pieces and mix at low until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
• Press the dough into the prepared 13-by-9-inch sheet pan. Get it as smooth as possible and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Line 2 half sheet pans (18-by-13-inch each) with parchment paper.
• Using a 3-inch star-shape cookie cutter, cut out stars from the chilled dough, dipping the cookie cutter in the 3 tablespoons flour in between cuts. Place the stars on each prepared half sheet pan then refrigerate.
• Meanwhile, position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
• Gently gather the dough scraps and press them back into the 13-by-9 inch sheet pan-however, only press into half of the pan. Then, refrigerate for 30 minutes or wrap with plastic and save for another time, for up to 5 days. Repeat the cutting with the cookie cutter and transfer the stars to the prepared sheet pans.
• Bake the cookies until they are lightly golden around the edges, rotating the sheet pans halfway through baking, 27 to 29 minutes.
• Allow the cookies to cool completely on the sheet pan.
• Combine the white chocolate chips with the vegetable oil in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds at a time until the chips are melted, stirring after each interval. Transfer to a piping bag. Cut a small hole at the tip then pipe the white chocolate onto each cooled cookie.
• Before the white chocolate sets, decorate each cookie with the patriotic sprinkles. Allow the white chocolate to set completely before serving.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE OATMEAL PEPITA MINI MUFFINS

Steps:

• Pre heat oven to 180°C (350F).
• Grind pepitas; set aside.
• I used oil sprayed mini muffin trays. Depending on the size of your tray, baking times will differ.
• The muffins are done when the tops "spring" back and a toothpick comes out clean.
• In a large bowl, mix (with you fingers ;-) ), oats and butter "well.".
• Add boiling water; combine with mixture; stir in finely ground pepitas. Set aside to cool.
• As I "always" like to speed up the process, I placed the bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes; re-whisked to refresh.
• I "gently" whisked all together.
• In separate large bowl, combine xylitol and cinnamon (or "only" sugar if using), eggs and vanilla powder. I used a wooden spoon.
• Add to cooled oats-butter-pepita mixture; combine well.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and dark chocolate.
• I found it easier to mix when I placed the dark chocolate in a small pan on the stove, continuously stirred until melted.
• Add flour-chocolate mixture to wet mixture; combine well.
• Spoon batter into prepared trays.
• Do NOT overfill and make sure the top of the muffin tray is oil sprayed so as to not stick.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until done.

MEXICAN SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Cream margarine and sugar together in bowl. Stir in flour, cornmeal, cinnamon and salt. Pat dough into 8-inch pie pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt chocolates with milk in double boiler. Stir until smooth.
• When shortbread is done, immediately score into 8 sections with knife while shortbread is still hot.
• Drizzle melted chocolate on top, allow to cool before cutting into wedges.