Lime Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate and Almonds

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It's a big day at Candy Girl! I received from first blog award! Karen at Shortbread sent me the Sisterhood Award. I was thrilled to receive this award from Karen because I regularly visit her site for its great recipes and sense of humor.

Since the Sisterhood Award is about spreading the love for our fellow blog sisters, I am passing this award on to the following blogs I enjoy:

Once in a Blue Moon

Smoky Mountain Cafe

Taste and Tell

Honeyed Hashette

Noble Pig

le Hamburger et le Croissant

As with any honor, there is responsibility and duty. The guidelines for passing this award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 people whose blogs you enjoy.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person who has nominated you for the award.

Now, on to the recipe for this post. I just received the April 2009 issue of Bon Appetit and quickly bookmarked this recipe for Lime Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate and Almonds. I love shortbread cookies and have made several versions in the past. This one was easy to throw together, but the consistency of the dough wasn't right. There was too much flour, so much that I questioned that maybe I last track while measuring and threw in an extra half a cup. I don't think I did, because this resulted in a fairly thin cookie and less dough would have made them too thin.

Because the dough wasn't 'one' when I put it in the pan, I wasn't able to follow the directions to prick the dough and pre-cut it in the pan. I thought the pre-cutting seemed a bit fussy but I'm sure would have made a pretty cookie. I pressed it into the pan the bet I could and tossed it the oven fully expecting to have an inedible final product.

To my surprise and delight, the cookies came together fairly well. (Is there a worse feeling than the disappointment of working so hard on a recipe and then the results being terrible?) They were a tad crumbly, but most shortbread cookies are. The lime flavor is subtle but there and I love the color the lime zest adds. The white chocolate adds a tad of sweetness and the almonds add the crunch. While I am pleased with the final cookie, I'm not sure this is a recipe I will make again. Instead, I may use a different shortbread recipe with the lime zest added to achieve that citrusy tang.

Lime Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate and Almonds

Bon Appetit, April 2009

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons finely grated lime peel, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3.5-ounce bar high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter, 2 tablespoons lime peel, and vanilla; process just until blended and dough forms clumps. Press evenly into prepared baking pan. Pierce dough all over with fork. Using sharp knife, cut dough into 12 squares, cutting through dough completely, then cut each square in half on diagonal, forming 24 triangles total.

Bake shortbread until golden brown, crisp around edges, and firm to touch, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven. Using sharp knife, immediately recut shortbread, gently separating triangles. Cool in pan on rack.

Place white chocolate in small metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of gently simmering water and stir just until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Using fork, drizzle melted chocolate in zigzag pattern over shortbread. Sprinkle evenly with almonds and remaining 1 tablespoon lime peel. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 1 hour.