Espresso shortbread cookies

Espresso Shortbread Cookies

MAKES 3 dozen cookies
TIME About 40 minutes, plus 2 hours to chill dough

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3/4 lb.) butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. finely ground espresso-roast coffee beans
3 tbsp. Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cacao nibs*


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, salt, espresso grounds, and Kahl´a. Beat to combine. Add flour and cacao nibs and mix until well blended.

2. Form dough into two 1 1/2-in.-thick logs, cover with plastic wrap or wax paper, and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

3. Cut chilled dough into 1/4-in.-thick slices and lay slightly apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake until cookies are browned on the bottom but not the top, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

*Cacao nibs are bits of roasted cacao beans, the primary raw ingredient used to make chocolate. Look for them in specialty or gourmet grocery stores.

PER COOKIE 138 cal., 56% (77 cal.) from fat; 1.4 g protein; 8.5 g fat (5.2 g sat.); 14 g carbo (0.3 g fiber); 111 mg sodium; 21 mg chol.

Serve With Hawk Crest Merlot 2005