How To make Chocolate Pecan Shortbread

1 1/2 c All-purpose flour
1/2 c Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c Confectioners' (icing) sugar
1 c Unsalted butter
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
1 c Granulated sugar
1/2 c Ground pecans
These are my favorite cookies. I came up with the recipe when my sister, who can't eat eggs, asked for (begged for) a chocolate cookie without eggs. Flattening the cookies turns them nice and crispy and you can make them even crunchier by topping them with crystallized sugar rather than the granulated. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet well. Place the flour, cocoa, and confectioners' sugar in a food processor. Turn the machine on and slowly add the butter, 2 tablespoons/30 g/1 ounce at a time. Add the vanilla and process until the dough forms a ball on top of the blades. In the palms of your hands, roll the dough into circles about 1/2 inch/1 cm thick. Place on the prepared baking sheet and press each circle of dough down with the bottom of a glass until it is about 1/4 inch/0.5 cm thick. Sprinkle the dough with the granulated sugar and pecans and press again to flatten. Bake the cookies until brown, about 10 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet before serving.
Makes eighteen cookies. Copyright c 1996 Pacific Harbor Publishing, L.L.C., All Rights Reserved -----