Toblerone Shortbread: A Twelve Step Program

The cafe at my university sold ginormous shortbread cookies with a full piece of Toblerone in the centre.  Absolute heaven!  Kept me going during those 3 hour night lectures.  I haven't seen them anywhere else and always wanted to make my own.  A quick search on "The Pinterest" tells me I'm not the only one - though I didn't see any that were made with a full size Toblerone.  Probably due to the insane amount of sugar and calories in one little bite!  So I too went the mini Toblerone route since having bite sized Christmas cookies are great for a (somewhat) guilt free biscuit buffet.

Step 1 - Get ingredients ready.

Step 2 - Beat butter and sugar and then stir in flour mixture.

Step 3 - When shortbread turns out really crumbly, watch video from The Joy of Baking website (which is where you can find the recipe I used for shortbread) to see where you went wrong and shout "HALF a cup of sugar? What? Really?!"  Then re-read recipe to find out - yes indeed, half a cup of sugar NOT 1 cup.

Step 4 - Run down to Tesco to buy more butter.  I bought 6 because they were on sale and I'm bound to need more at some point.  This won't be the only mistake.

Step 5 - Get ingredients ready (again) and measure out HALF a cup of sugar.

Step 6 - Follow instructions carefully and make sure butter is smooth.

Step 7 - Watch as the dough goes crumbly (again) and cry a little on the inside.

Step 8 -  Get a brain wave (they sometimes happen, infrequently yes, but they do) and place the crumbly dough in a re-sealable bag and add little water.  Gently smoosh everything around in the bag until the dough looks more like the dough in the video.  Form dough into a ball, place in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk shape.  Refrigerate for an hour or overnight because you're going out for dinner and you can't spend all your time baking in the kitchen.  Note the difference:

Step 9 - Roll out dough and cut into shapes using a cookie cutter.  Halfway through, when your black jeans are covered in flour, remember to put on your apron (this should really be step 1).

 

Step 10 - Taste test Toblerone triangle.  If determined to be of good quality (it might take a couple to be sure) place one triangle in the centre of each cookie, place on a baking tray and stick in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Step 11 - Bake in the oven while crossing your fingers that they taste okay when done.

Step 12 - Give yourself a good ol' pat on the back when they come out looking  beautiful and tasting absolutely fantastic.  Pat, pat, pat.