Valentine's Shortbread

Oops - just discovered this post in draft form from the year before last! With Valentine's Day not that far off I thought I'd post it now to give you a little time to eat-- test a couple of batches before Feb 14th finally arrives!  I might even be making some more myself, I think the husband will probably appreciate it more than the crochet hearts I was planning --to suit myself-- !
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So, whilst I love the way my darling husband spoiled me for Valentine's Day, I personally refuse to spend money on such a commercially inspired occasion. That being said I still want to take every opportunity to show my chap how much he means to me, so I make him something sweet to make him smile. Shortbread is one of his favourite things and, several years having now elapsed since the shortbread disaster of 2007 (it turned out that my scales were broken, but it still left me with a shortbread paranoia) I felt brave enough to have another stab at it.

I found a well-recommended recipe online, adjusted it to add choc chunks and make the pieces heart-shaped and baked him a batch which, I am reliably informed, was utterly delicious ;-)





I also drew him a card (which still needs colouring in, oops). I think he liked it.

So... do you mark the day? What did you do this year?

Valentine's Shortbread
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
55g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
130g plain flour
35g ground rice
50g dark chocolate chopped into large chunks
Caster sugar, to finish1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Put the butter into a large mixing bowl, and beat until soft. Beat in the sugar and salt.2. Sift in the flour and ground rice and mix to a smooth dough; add a little extra butter if it doesn't come together into a dough3. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment, and pat the dough out to 1cm thickness and use a heart shaped cutter to cut into biscuits place on the baking sheet and put in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes until firm. 4. Bake for around half an hour until cooked through, but not browned. 5. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle with caster sugar and transfer to a wire rack. Once cold, these should last for a good few days in an airtight container