clementine and dark chocolate chip shortbread stars

Clementine and Dark Chocolate Chip
Shortbread Stars

Shortbread is one of my favourite sweet indulgences. But I usually like it plain and think that shortbread really shouldn't be mucked about with. But recently a friend baked some chocolate chip shortbread biscuits and they were rather nice indeed. I am prepared to admit that I was wrong; I have seen the light! 

Since the theme of this month's Tea Time Treats January challenge, which is hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked, is to use citrus, I thought I'd make some shortbread stars that included both orange flavours as well as dark chocolate chips.

I used my favourite shortbread recipe and included the zest of two clementines as well as 100 grammes of dark chocolate, finely chopped. The chocolate really does need to be in small pieces; otherwise it is hard to mix into the biscuit dough.

My shortbread stars were topped while still warm with a sprinkling of clementine dust - a mixture of Demerara sugar that had been whizzed up with the zest of two more clementines.

The biscuits were subtly flavoured with orange with the extra hit of slightly bitter dark chocolate. (We are not talking Terry's Chocolate Orange here!)

Now all I've got to do is think of something to do with the juice of four bald clementines. I feel a cocktail coming on!