This is a great variation on chocolate chip cookies from Alison Roman. I’m enough of a fan I thought it was worth adding to my notes for further iteration.

Really any chocolate works here. But I like to use a fairly dark bittersweet couverture chocolate that’s 60-70% cocoa. Using a bar rather than buttons or a block makes it easy to roughly chop it so you don’t get too many fine particles. The process of slicing the shortbreads will deal with any especially large pieces.

If you’re not familiar with making a ballotine, I’ve included a nice quick tutorial.

Ingredients

  • 250 g butter, tempered (ca. 10 °C or 50 °F)
  • 15 g salt
  • 100 g granulated sugar
  • 50 g light brown sugar
  • 5 g vanilla extract
  • 325 g all-purpose flour
  • 170 g bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
  • Egg, beaten
  • Demerara sugar
  • Fleur de sel (or other finishing salt)

Method

Combine the butter, salt, sugars, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream everything together on medium speed until it’s light and fluffy.

Add the flour and chocolate, and then mix the dough on low briefly to begin to combine it.

Then pour the dough out onto a clean work surface and roughly knead the dough by hand to from a cohesive mass. Divide the dough in half.

Place each piece of dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, roll each portion into a ballotine. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, up to overnight.

Preheat an oven to 180 °C (350 °F) with fan (convection) if available.

Line two baking trays with Silpats or parchment paper.

Take the chilled dough out of the refrigerator and remove it from the plastic. Then brush each portion with beaten egg and roll each log in the demerara sugar.

Using a serrated knife, cut the dough into 1 cm (ca. 1/2") slices. Arrange them on the prepared baking trays. They will spread minimally, so it’s fine to pack them tightly. Then sprinkle each biscuit with fleur de sel.

Bake the shortbreads until they’re lightly golden and no longer shiny, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Let them cool on the baking trays for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container.