Award-winning public speaker, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned health expert, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD (aka The Paleo Mom) believes the key to reversing the current epidemics of chronic disease is scientific literacy. She creates educational resources to help people regain their health through diet and lifestyle choices informed by the most current evidenced-based scientific research.

These dark chocolate shortbread cookies were actually an accident. They were one of the variations that I came up with (#3 to be exact) while I was trying to create my Decadent Double Chocolate Cookies (Nut-free, Coconut-free, Egg-free). My first thought was complete disappointment that the texture was so crumbly and melty and shortbread like, even more “short” than the two variations previous. Man! This recipe has two eggs in it! How can it make a shortbread! I was frustrated (I was trying to develop a chewy cookie after all). However, the flavor was so good that I decided to shelf that variation for future recipe development. And this is the result! A super luxurious dark chocolate shortbread cookie. Drizzled with homemade white chocolate. Perfect!

These are a dark chocolate cookie and they aren’t very sweet (but super chocolaty!). If you want to make them sweeter, you can use semisweet chocolate instead of bittersweet. You could also add a Mexican chocolate kick to these by adding some cayenne pepper and cinnamon.

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The white chocolate drizzle is a modification of this recipe from Paleo Parents (the only real modification is that I use less sugar). I used evaporated cane juice to sweeten the sugar wich gives it an almost caramel color. If you want a whiter white chocolate (which would be good if you wanted to add coloring), I would suggest using white sugar. You could also melt white chocolate chips ( Lieber’s Decorating Chips and VeganSweets White Chocolate Chips are dairy-free) or use dark chocolate instead or just leave the cookies plain.

For those with sensitivities, these cookies are nut-free and coconut-free! The recipe doesn’t even use starches!

Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients (Dark Chocolate Shortbread):

Preheat oven to 375°F. Melt chocolate and palm shortening together in the microwave or on low heat on the stovetop. Let the chocolate cool slightly (maybe 4-5 minutes) before adding the rest of the ingredients. Stir in vanilla and cocoa powder. Add eggs one at a time mixing very quickly as you add them so that they do not scramble. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form cookie patties by spooning rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet (it’s okay if the dough is still warm). Flatten with your hand or the back of a spatula or bottom of a glass, to about ¼” or slightly thicker. These cookies don’t spread much while baking so whatever shape you make them now will be pretty much the finished shape. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on cookie sheet or a wire rack. Once cooled, drizzle with Paleo white chocolate. You could also drizzle with dark chocolate or eat them as is!

Ingredients (Paleo White Chocolate):

1 1/2 oz cocoa butter (by weight)

2 Tbsp evaporated cane juice (for whiter chocolate use white sugar)

1 tsp arrowroot powder