Salted Chocolate Chunk Almond Shortbread

I literally woke up on Saturday with an idea for a variant on the epic cookies that shattered the internet and set to work. 

It feels like half of Instragram has tried Alison Roman’s salted butter and chocolate chunk shortbread. They’re flaky, salty yet sweet, buttery bites of deliciousness. For one family party or another, I needed to come up with a treat that would work for my egg-allergic niece. I finally settled on these epic cookies without their traditional rim of sugar held on by egg wash. I’m not certain if these were her first dessert, but she certainly reacted as if they were! It has become one of my missions to uncover desserts that are egg-free, or can be adapted as such, to give this sweet girl a taste of what her peers are eating. I secretly hope all of my nieces share my love for flavors, both savory and sweet. 

So, that explains why the base of shortbread, but why flourless? My neurologist pointed out that several of her patients have been doing better with their migraines after going gluten-free. While I’m not quite ready to give up all my cakes and cookies, I certainly am trying to adapt as many recipes as I can! Also, it’s Passover season when Jews around the world need to cook and bake without flour. So, it seemed the perfect time to adapt a favorite. 

In fact, I decided that a half batch is actually a perfect amount! I’m all alone in my apartment during this worldwide quarantine, so it’s hard to share treats. I really don’t need to eat an entire batch all by myself (although I’m sure I could)! Another wonderful thing about this type of slice and bake cookie, is that the log of dough can keep in the freezer for quite a while, so you can slice off and bake cookies as you want to eat them – super convenient!