Whenever I had baker’s block and am struggling to think of new dessert ideas, one thing I can always fall back on is ice cream flavors! I find that focusing on specific flavors or ingredients, and what I enjoy about those in the ice cream itself, is a great starting point for a new dessert idea. And the bonus is that since ice cream flavors tend to be classic flavors(and flavor pairings), you usually don’t go wrong with taking a pre-existing dessert flavor (combination if the ice cream flavor has more than one ingredient) and running with it. Cherry Garcia is a popular ice cream flavor in Ben and Jerry’s, featuring a vanilla ice cream with fudge flakes and cherries. It kind of reminds me of a classic ice cream sundae, but I wanted to go a different, more portable route with that. So I figured, why not make shortbreads? I love a good, buttery shortbread, and cherries and chocolate aren’t too tricky to incorporate into that kind of dough, so this recipe came about rather quickly! This is the perfect kind of cookie to make during the holidays, since it is reminiscent of a chocolate chip cookie, but the dried cherries add a lovely, nostalgic texture, similar to that of a fruit cake. Unlike a fruit cake, however, these shortbreads are better eaten than left in your attic or used as a door weight!

With any shortbread dough, temperature control is very important. Since shortbread dough uses a lot of butter, if the dough is not chilled down enough, rolling and shaping your cookies will be a sticky nightmare. In terms of how I emulated that Cherry Garcia flavor, dried cherries were used in this cookie, since fresh ones are not always available year-round, and on top of that, fresh fruit in a cookie almost always results in wet, undercooked pockets of dough. For the fudge flakes, I used both chopped up chocolate and cacao nibs to tie in the chocolate flavor. I love using cacao nibs and chocolate in shortbreads – when you refrigerate a baked shortbread that is studded with chocolate, it has this extremely addictive crunch that contrasts the sweet, buttery dough. The cacao nibs, being unprocessed chocolate, adds a bitterness that keeps the cookies from being too sweet, but also adds another crunchy texture. These shortbreads taste like Cherry Garcia, so they are the perfect way to enjoy that kind of flavor, but during the winter when eating ice cream may not be as ideal(though I will admit I have been known to eat ice cream in the snow, so if you are like me, that last sentiment may not apply here)!

Makes 12-14 shortbreads:
For the dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2oz dried cherries, chopped finely
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1oz cacao nibs
1oz coarsely chopped semisweet or dark chocolate
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a food processor, start by blitzing the flour, cherries, butter, sugar, and salt together until a crumbly, sandy dough has formed. Transfer that to a bowl and mix into that the cacao nibs, chocolate, egg yolk, and vanilla to form your dough. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness and cut out 2-inch by 4-inch rectangles from the dough. Transfer the cut dough onto a lined sheet tray, spacing each piece 1 inch apart from each other, and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to fully cool before serving.