Orange Zest Shortbread with Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Using a food processor (it’s the easiest, but another mixer will work, too), pulse to combine softened butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, orange zest and salt. Combine everything by pulsing for several seconds. Add flour, in parts, pulsing to incorporate before adding more.

Once all of the flour is added, pulse just until the dough comes together in the bowl of your food processor, just like when making a dough crust. Remove dough from the bowl. Shape into a log and roll it up in plastic wrap, twisting the ends of the plastic and folding them in. Place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before cutting and baking, so it maintains shape in the oven.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 F. When the dough is ready, take it out of the the plastic wrap and use a sharp knife to make 1/4-inch slice cookie rounds. Place them onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until they are slightly golden around the edges. When finished, transfer the shortbread onto a wire rack to cool.

When the cookies have cooled completely, place them on a baking sheet that you’ve lined with parchment paper. After chopping the chocolate into super fine pieces, put about 3 ounces of it in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Stir with a spoon and then continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and stir constantly until it’s completely smooth. Place melted chocolate in a Ziploc bag with a small tip of the corner cut off and drizzle it onto the cookies (line them up first, to make it easy). Let them dry completely and place in an airtight container for storage.

Adapted from Ina Garten, Food Network