Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Shortbread
The Joy of Cookies

Buttery shortbread laced with coconut and dipped into dark chocolate.

Faith: The first time I made this recipe, I found the dough to be very crumbly and hard to roll out and cut. I cut the amount of flour to be used in the recipe down and they turned out much better. Actually, the recipe is very good, especially if you like coconut. They are even really good without the chocolate dip.

1 3/4 cups flour [I found 1 1/2 cups of flour about right. Fluff the flour before measuring.]
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, for dipping
2 teaspoons butter, melted with chocolate chips for dipping

Combine flour, baking powder, salt; set aside. Beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix until well-blended. Stir in coconut. Form dough into a 4" x 7" rectangle. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 300. Butter two large baking sheets. On floured surface, roll dough into an 8 by 14 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Using floured knife with long blade, cut into 24, 2-inch squares. Arrange squares, 1-inch apart, on buttered sheets. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden. Cool on racks.

Line 2 large baking sheets with waxed paper, set aside. Melt chocolate and butter together, stirring to blend well. Dip half of each cookie diagonally (from corner to corner) into chocolate, shaking off excess. (Could also sprinkle with a little toasted coconut). Arrange on paper-lined sheets. Refrigerate until chocolate sets, about 10 minutes. Store airtight at room temp or freeze longer.

Yield: 2 dozen