Muffin Shortbread Cookies With Nutella-Cranberry Filling

Yes, I know. I've disappeared, gone on hiatus for about a fortnight. What can I say? The well sometimes run dry, I wasn't even the inspired to write about stuff not related to food. Such as why I've disappeared, for example.

But today, today I'm back. At first, I thought of writing about my various kitchen disasters to date as I'm sure someone out there would be interested. Who doesn't like to be reminded that we food bloggers are only human, after all? Then quite suddenly, a simple new recipe I came up with turned out to be a success. A cookie recipe at that. So I'm going to write about this instead and save the exploding kitchen story for another day. I'm sure you guys can wait.

I've called these Muffin Shortbread Cookies because I decided to bake the shortbread dough in mini-muffin pans. They held the distinctive muffin shape but melted in the mouth like typical shortbread once you bite into them. As for the Nutella filling, hey, who needs to explain away Nutella? It's just plain good to have it in any recipe, that's my opinion. Since Christmas is just around the corner, chucking in some chopped cranberries along with the Nutella elevates this humble shortbread to the likes of the Festive-Cookie Brigade!

 

Before I get on to the recipe, I'm doing another post tomorrow. It seems strange to post two days in a row after my recent absence, but it's for the International Incident Party hosted by Penny of Jeroxie.com.  Catch this blog again tomorrow, you won't be disappointed!

Muffin Shortbread Cookies With Nutella-Cranberry Filling
Makes 48-50 cookies
Ingredients:
Shortbread
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped finely

Method:
1. First, make the shortbread. I do it the stressfree way - just place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend it for a minute or so until the dough forms into a ball. Remove dough, place in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
2. For the filling, add butter and flour in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the Nutella and dried cranberries and knead into a ball with your hand.
3. To assemble the cookie for baking, make small round balls with the shortbread and press into the base of a non-stick mini-muffin cup. Crumble the Nutella-cranberry filling on top, then place another larger ball of shortbread on top and press down so that its surface is even with the top of the muffin cup. Do this with the remaining shortbread and filling.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of your muffin tin) until the shortbread dough turns a light golden brown. Leave to cool completely in the pan. To remove muffin cookies, turn the tray over and give it a firm tap against a hard surface. The muffins will pop out easily. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.