Cookie Butter Shortbread Bites

Recipe courtesy of Stephanie Eddy (www.clockworklemon.com).

Ingredients

For the cookie layer:

• 1 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
• 1/2 cup + 2 TBSP icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup cookie butter

For the Chocolate Layer:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup cookie butter

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment. Allow some parchment to hang over the edges to make the bars easier to remove
2. Stir together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together until fluffy. Stir in the butter until a soft dough forms
3. Press the shortbread dough into the bottom of the parchment paper lined pan. Chill in the freezer until firm, then use a fork to prick holes all over the dough. Bake at 325 for 15 – 18 minutes until lightly golden around the edges.
4. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack (or outside). Once cool, spread the 3/4 cup of cookie butter in an even layer on top of the shortbread. Place in the fridge or freezer to chill while you make the topping
5. In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and cookie butter together. Stir every 30 seconds or so until the topping is melted and smooth. Allow the topping to cool until it is barely warm, but still pourable. Then pour it over the chilled bars and use a spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Allow the bars to set at room temperature.
6. Pull the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper and cut into strips, and then bite sized pieces. Store in an airtight tupperware container.