A New Favorite… peanut butter shortbread with salted chocolate

     My husband had two comments when he tasted the Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate and Fleur de Sel.
1st Comment:  "These are too good!"
2nd Comment:  "Do you have to put salt on everything?"
     Yes, this cookie is one of the best I've made.  What could be better than peanut butter, lot's of sweet unsalted butter, and chocolate?  Right there you've got a winning combination.  But, the addition of the fleur de sel is what really makes this cookie exceptionally good.  In my mind, it's hard to beat good chocolate with a sprinkling of French sea salt.  These cookies seem to melt in your mouth.  Pour yourself a big glass of ice cold milk and try to eat just one; it's impossible.

     I changed the original recipe just a bit which called for rolling the cookie dough 1/2-inch thick and cutting shapes with a cookie cutter.  I chose to form the dough into two logs, chill, then slice about 3/8-inch thick; easy and delicious!

               Peanut Butter Shortbread with Salted Chocolate
                                       adapted from a recipe on Food.com

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces good quality chocolate- milk, semi-sweet, or bittersweet
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional butter if needed to thin chocolate
• Fleur de Sel, for sprinkling
1.  Beat together the butter and peanut butter with mixer at medium speed until smooth.  Gradually add sugar, beating well.  Stir in the vanilla.
2.  Combine the flour and salt.  Gradually add to the butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
3.  Divide the dough in half and place each half onto a piece of plastic wrap.  Roll into two logs, wrap in the plastic and refrigerate until firm.
4.  Preheat the oven to 275˚F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and slice the logs 3/8-inch thick.  Place each slice onto cookie sheet leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie.  Place one baking sheet in the middle of the oven and the other baking sheet on the rack directly below.  Bake the cookies for 40 minutes or until the cookies are nicely browned, switching the baking sheets after 20 minutes.  Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
5.  When the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water.  Add butter until the chocolate is a good consistency for dipping.  Dip half of each cookie into the melted chocolate and place on a parchment-lined sheet.  Sprinkle chocolate immediately with a few grains of Fleur de Sel. 

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