while working on a recipe for a fabulous cookie bar that i hope to post very soon, i tinkered with the recipe for traditional shortbread that i got from my friend Brenda. i needed a shortbread cookie as a base for sure, something not too sweet with a touch of saltiness to complement another ingredient, the problem was the traditional shortbread made gluten free would be too crumbly to roll out and use cutters on. so I set about to make Ginty’s shortbread work as my future cookie bar base.

for these rolled cookies, make the recipe for Ginty’s Shortbread with the following tweaks: add one egg white to the creamed butter and sugar just before adding the flour to the mixer, once the dough forms a ball in the mixer, knead together on a liberally floured board or silpat, adding bench flour until the consistency feels right to roll out (not more than a couple of tablespoons). The dough will be soft and you will need a palate knife or spatula to transfer the cutouts to a cookie sheet. Bake the cookies at 300 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the cookies on a rack. To decorate prepare the recipe for Chocolate-Ganache Glaze and fill a small piping bag or ziploc type bag with the glaze (snipping the corner) and drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. For the half hearts put the glaze into a small container and dip the cookie and place the cookie on the rack until the chocolate sets. I also made some shortbread tartlets in a silicone molds and filled them with the chocolate glaze.