Salted Chocolate Shortbread with Strawberries and Cream

These delicious salted chocolate shortbread cookies are guaranteed to please, especially with our special ingredients including Herbie's Vanilla Bean Powder, Maldon Sea Salt and real, fresh strawberries.

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour  ·  1 1/4 cup 
• Dutch Process Cocoa Powder  ·  1/3 cup 
• Baking Soda  ·  1/2 teaspoon 
• Unsalted Butter  ·  11 tablespoons 
• Brown Sugar  ·  1/3 cup 
• White Sugar  ·  1/4 cup 
• Maldon Sea Salt plus more for sprinkling  ·  1 teaspoon 
• Vanilla Extract  ·  1 teaspoon 
• 2 pints Strawberries  ·   
• White Sugar  ·  2 tablespoons 
• Herbie's Pink Peppercorns, ground  ·  1 teaspoon 
• Heavy Whipping Cream  ·  1 cup 
• Powdered Sugar  ·  2 tablespoons 
• Herbie's Vanilla Bean Powder  ·  1/2 teaspoon 

Instructions

For the Chocolate Shortbread:

Whisk together the flour, cocoa and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

With the mixer off, add the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer on and off low speed (pulse) for a second or two about 5 times so that the flour mixture gets incorporated. Then mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, just until the flour disappears into the dough (the dough will look crumbly).

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it in two. Shape each half into a 9-inch log. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you've frozen the dough, you don't need to defrost before baking - just slice the logs into cookies and baking the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are ½-inch thick. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. Sprinkle a small amount of extra salt on top of each round.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 6 minutes - they won't look done, and won't be firm, but that's how they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

To assemble:

Cut the strawberries into quarter inch dice, add the white sugar, lemon juice, and ground pink peppercorns. Set aside 20 minutes to let the berries macerate and the flavors mingle. Divide strawberries in half and puree half off the mixture to make a sauce, and reserving the diced strawberries.

Whip the cream into soft peaks with the vanilla powder and powdered sugar.

Place one shortbread on the plate and top with a dollop of the whipped cream and a spoonful of the diced strawberries and top with a second shortbread. Spoon the strawberry sauce around the plate and serve.