In case anyone was wondering, Dr. van der Stevejinck came through with not just one, but TWO shortbread pans. From the look of the final product, I think I need to work a little on my technique - but the taste is spot on. I do love a recipe that uses staples that I always have on hand. Here's the recipe that came with my pans:
Classic Shortbread
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
Preheat oven to 325'. Grease pan.
Cream butter until it's light. Cream in powdered sugar, then vanilla. Finally, work in flour. Knead dough on an unfloured board until smooth. Firmly press dough into pan. Prick surface with a for (I forgot to do this). Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Loosen the edges and invert on cutting board. Cut into serving pieces while warm.
Verdict: Yum. Even my picky eater likes these.
Yum. This looks so yummy. How would you make this without the pans?
ReplyDeleteI've made it before in regular baking pans (cake pans) - I think I scored the dough before baking. You have to cut it while it's warm - when it cools it dries out and it would be almost like trying to cut crackers. Possible, but not pretty.
ReplyDeleteThe pans I got are quite nice - the only problem is that the cookie size is fairly large - which Dr. van der Stevejinck didn't see as a problem at all.
Or, if you have to be gluten free, you can try this one.
ReplyDeleteMelt in your Mouth Gluten Free Shortbread
* 1/2 cup cornstarch
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 1 cup white rice flour
* 3/4 cup butter (not margrine)
Sift cornstarch, powdered sugar and rice flour together.
Add butter.
Mix with hands (washed) until soft dough forms.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Shape into 1 inch balls
Place 1 1/4 inches apart on greased cookie sheet; flatten lighty with a fork. Bake at 300 for 20-25 mins. or until edges are golden brown.
Variations: Form balls as above. Roll in crushed corn flakes or finely chopped nuts. Press balls with thumb, place a dab of jelly in middle.
I made this exactly as directed. I saw another variation that didn't chill the dough, and bumped the temp up to 350. I think I would do 325 as they took forever to bake, but I don't want them to brown too soon. The texture was sooooooo good, just like shortbread should be.
Those look delicious. I kinda like "if one is good, two is better" philosophy.
ReplyDeleteBetty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteAt one time I had a set of historic house cookie molds. The cookie that went into the mold was definitely shortbread-like. The results
themselves---well...We ate a lot of nice tasting crumbs.
Shortbread was one of the few recipes I held onto from 8th grade home-ec. (I was already fluent in choc-chip cookies!) For baking sheet shortbread Betty Debbie is correct--you MUST(!!!)score in 'break apart' lines before it goes in the oven. Planning on cutting the shortbread after it is cool, not a good idea. A plethora of tasty crumbs is what you get.
Warning--this is NOT a low-cal food!
However, a few cups of good, hot tea and a few pieces of homemade shortbread---Oh My!
You can score the lines with closely placed pricks with the tines of a fork.
ReplyDeleteThere's just something about this sentence:
ReplyDeleteYou can score the lines with closely placed pricks with the tines of a fork.
that sounds dirty.