Black Lives Matter Glazed Gluten Free Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs

Black Lives Matter. Breonna Taylor was 26 when she was murdered. If any of you are parents, let me ask you – if your child was killed by police, what would you do? How would you feel? While she was sleeping. I’d hope you’d want your child, presumably one of the people you hold most dear in this world, to sleep safely every night of their lives. What explanation would placate you if you were told your child was now dead, having been shot to death by people (police – those meant to “protect and serve”) entering her home while she slept and firing into her sleeping body? Would there be any explanation that would?

This past week, and countless times this year and every year, have shown us that the systems this country has built were not built to value or protect black lives (no, there was never a year in the history of the United States that was safe for black lives). With the shameful results of the Breonna Taylor trial, in which no one seems to have killed her (if not the cops who shot the bullets into her sleeping back, then who?), it is painfully clear that the fight for black lives is no where close to being won. Read more here at Justice for Breonna, or here at Color of Change, or watch this video from Trevor Noah of The Daily Show.

We are 39 days away from one of the most important elections we can contribute to. But we’re also responsible for ensuring change at every level. The prosecution of Breonna’s murderers wasn’t in a national court, it was local. Every. Election. Matters. Take a moment to read up on the problems that our Police Force is built on (insurmountable, many of them) and why we need to elect officials at every level who may appoint judges, defund departments, re-write officer training and change laws around “reasonable force,” (supposedly “objective” but when officer narratives are the only thing used, even over video evidence, the terminology leans dangerously towards “subjective” force). Watch the “13th” – full feature available, courtesy of Netflix, for free on YouTube. Don’t take our word for it, do your own research. Don’t go to your typical sources, go to the people who have actually been harmed, go to the people who study the systems and publish actual objective briefs on the subject. High intake of subjective “information/research” leads to willful ignorance, so take care in your pursuit of it.

These cookies don’t mean a damn thing because they can’t bring back Breonna, or any of the dozens, hundreds, thousands of black bodies killed by those in a force originally created to capture enslaved black bodies, but at least it gave us the platform to write this post. Thanks to Sprinkle Robot, a powerful voice and fellow blogger in the Black Lives Matter movement, who created the BLM sprinkles we placed on these cookies. Thanks to Bakers Against Racism, a movement that was created by bakers of color in the first wave of June protests and which continues as we march towards November – these cookies are a part of our Bake the Vote virtual participation in their second big bake sale. If you want to host your own bake sale to raise money for so many orgs fighting for black lives, go for it. Make these, make this BLM Swiss Roll, make anything, as long as you make something.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Glazed Gluten Free Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs

Deeply chocolately shortbread with a crunch of cacao nibs and coffee and chocolate glaze

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time19 minutes mins

Chilling time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, British

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: cacao nibs, chocolate, coffee, cookies, dark chocolate, easy, glazed, gluten free, shortbread

Servings: 36 cookies

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Cookie sheets
• Parchment paper
• Plastic wrap
• Electric mixer

Ingredients

For the shortbread:

• 1 1/2 Cup salted butter room temperature
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup arrowroot starch
• 2 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 1/2 tsp of it now)
• 1/2 Cup good quality dutched cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp espresso powder
• 1/2 Cup cacao nibs

For the chocolate glaze:

• 1 Cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 Cup cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• dash vanilla extract

For the coffee glaze:

• 1 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules
• pinch salt
• dash vanilla extract

Instructions

• First, make your shortbread! This will need to chill before baking. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and white sugar on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until lighter and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder and continue to beat until fully combined and smooth. Then, using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the arrowroot starch and gluten free flour mix – it will be very stiff and hard to mix but you want it to be a ball of dough – not runny or wet. If it doesn't seem dry enough, add a bit more flour. Add in the cacao nibs and stir in as best you can.
• Then, separate the dough into two equal chunks, and pat/form them into logs. I place each chunk on a large sheet of plastic wrap and roll/form them into square logs, then wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and place in the fridge to firm up/chill for at least an hour (you can leave them in overnight as well).
• Once the logs are chilled, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and lightly grease two cookie sheets. Line the sheets with parchment paper and grease again with butter or cooking spray, then set aside. Remove logs from the fridge and unwrap, then carefully sliced 1cm/1/3 inch sections to create your shortbread cookies, placing them about an inch and a half apart on your prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until dry and firm to the touch. Let cool completely before glazing or eating.
• While the cookies are cooling, make your glazes! These are entirely optional too – the cookies are great on their own! Using two cereal bowls and a fork or small whisk, make the glaze or glazes. For the coffee glaze, combine the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. In a smaller bowl, stir together the instant coffee and milk until the granules are completely dissolved. Pour the milk+coffee into the powdered sugar and stir until smooth. Add more powdered sugar for a thicker glaze (thicker is better so it won't run off of your cookies).
• Then make the chocolate glaze. In the second cereal bowl, combine all glaze ingredients and whisk/stir until smooth. Again, add more powdered sugar if needed for a stiffer glaze. Then either scoop glazes into a piping bag with an 1/8 inch piping tip/cut on the tip, or use a spoon to spread glaze over cookies. I topped mine with Black Lives Matter sprinkles from Sprinkle Robot (you can find them on Etsy!). Serve with or without glaze, with mixed glaze, or a few of each coffee glazed and chocolate glazed!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your shortbread!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber