The Classic Shortbread Cookie

I am a believer that no better smell can come from an oven than a perfectly-baked plain-jane shortbread cookie. This is a very big statement. And yet it’s surprising to me, because the basic shortbread is nothing more than butter, sugar, salt and flour creamed together into a seemingly innocent dough. How is this possible?

I have a great respect for the incredibly annoying and complex desserts with many ingredients- desserts that strangely don’t hold a candle to the intoxicating smell that shortbread sends into your kitchen after marrying the butter & sugar together at 325°. The fact that such a basic recipe can create such an incredible caramel waft is beyond me; it’s simply a powerful metaphor for that classic notion: a kick-butt shortbread is greater than the sum of its parts.

(Oh- this is worth mentioning… this cookie has more to offer than just a top-notch smell. It tastes pretty fantastic, too.)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1. Sift flour and salt together in a small bowl and set aside. Cream butter with a stand mixer (or hand-held mixer) until light (2 – 3 minutes), then add sugar and beat for additional 2 – 3 minutes (scraping sides of bowl a couple of times throughout). Add vanilla if using. Add flour & salt combo and mix on low speed until dough is just incorporated together into a ball.
2. Pat dough into a flat disc and wrap with plastic wrap; chill until very firm (at least an hour). Roll dough out to just under 1/2 inch thick (you might need dough to ‘warm up’ a bit to do this), and use a cookie cutter to cut out your desired shapes. Chill until cookie shapes are firm before baking.
3. Preheat oven to 325°, and bake shortbread until firm to the touch and turning golden brown (about 15 minutes). Cool on a wire rack and indulge.
Tips:
- Be patient. It’s tough to wait, isn’t it? When you start to smell the cookie in the air, you will be tempted to take it out of the oven… but let it bake all the way through for the full time (or it will be a tad soft in the middle, and void of that classic shortbread taste).
- Sugar comments: you can use the full 1/2 cup as regular sugar if you don’t feel like using powdered sugar, or even use confectioners’ sugar for the whole 1/2. (Get wild and use light brown sugar for a richer taste and color.)
- Looking for EASY shortbread wedges instead? I hear you! Sometimes preparing cookies can be annoying. So… after step #1 above, pat the dough evenly into a greased 8-inch cake, springform, or tart pan, and chill for the hour. Then bake for about 45 minutes. (If you only have a 9-inch cake pan, just bake for 40 minutes.)
- Want another EASY cookie alternative? Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, chill, and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
- Yet another EASY cookie alternative? Enough, already! Roll the dough into a log, and after chilling, slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds and bake. (The rounds will be a tad rustic compared to the cookie cutter version, which is totally fine.)
- Thoughts on decoration… this is where you can get carried away, so be warned. Yes, you can paint the tops of these cookies with a colored sugar glaze. Or let them be beautifully bare and confident in their unadulterated simplicity. They taste so good that you won’t need to dress them up.
- Leftovers? Shortbread keeps in an airtight container for up to a month (crazy, but most say it improves as it ages?), and it freezes really well, too. (Imagine a few cookies pulled out of the freezer late one night, crumbled and sprinkled over vanilla ice cream? Sigh.)
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March 1st, 2012 | More Sweets Please | 1 Comment | Tags: Classics, Cookies

One Response and Counting...

Susie Rodriguez 03.01.2012

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