Chocolate Baies Roses Shortbread

Makes about 30 cookies.

Simple to make yet elegant, these shortbread cookies combine dark chocolate with the floral zing of baies roses. Pistachios add lovely flavor, texture, and color contrast.

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder, preferably Dutched*
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
10 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon baies roses, lightly crushed 

For rolling:
¼ cup toasted, salted pistachios, finely chopped
1 tablespoon baies roses, lightly crushed
1 tablespoon demerara sugar 

Put the flour, cocoa, and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Put the butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fit­ted with the paddle attachment. Beat until the butter is fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping once to scrape down the bowl and paddle.

Add the flour, cocoa, and 1 tablespoon of baies roses to the butter mixture and mix on low just until a soft, but shaggy, dough forms. Use a spatula to gather the dough into a ball then divide it into two pieces.

Put the pistachios and the remaining tablespoon of baies roses into a small bowl and stir to mix them together. 

Put half the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper or parchment. Gently roll the dough into a 2-inch thick log. Sprinkle half the pistachio mixture over the log and use the paper and your hands to press the nut mixture onto the log. Roll the log in the paper, twisting the ends. Repeat with the remaining dough and nuts. Chill the logs for at least 1 hour.

While the dough chills, line two cookie sheets with baking parchment; set aside. Preheat the oven to 325° F.

Cut each log in into ¼-inch thick slices. Set the slices on the parchment-lined cookie sheets allowing about 1” between cookies. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of the demerara sugar and press it gently into the top of the cookie (just enough that will stick to the cookie).

Bake 16–18 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

*Dutched cocoa, such as Droste or Valrhona, lends a rich, dark color to the finished cookies, but any cocoa powder that you have on hand will work nicely and taste good.