Spiced Shortbread Cookies

Don’t let the plain-Jane-ness look of these cookies fool you into thinking that they are plain Jane. (Not that there’s anything wrong with plain Jane; I have been a long-term proponent of Jane, like the Classic Shortbread Cookie that this particular recipe was born from. Those of you who have experienced the aforementioned cookie know how utterly exquisite ‘plain’ can be.)

So you take a classic cookie, and add a myriad of homey spices (spices that hint at the autumn that’s just around the corner- how sad, but sweet in the dessert world… apple and pumpkin pies on the horizon!), and you’re off to the races.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)

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

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Sift flour, salt and spices 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 sugars and beat for additional 2 – 3 minutes (scraping sides of bowl a couple of times throughout). Add vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until dough is just incorporated together into a ball.
2. Pat dough into a tart pan (I like a round 9″ tart or springform one, or a long and narrow tart pan like I used for the picture above), cover with plastic wrap and chill until very firm (at least an hour). You can use a regular cake pan- but you just won’t be able to pop the cookie out as easily.
3. Preheat oven to 325°, and bake shortbread until firm to the touch and turning golden brown (about 40 minutes). Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, gently remove from the tart pan (wearing oven gloves) and use a large knife to score the cookie into individual pieces (while still warm). Continue to cool and then 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 of brown sugar (or even just regular sugar) if you don’t feel like using powdered sugar, or even use confectioners’ sugar for the whole 1/2 cup. You can be really flexible with the sugar in this recipe- fool around and see what taste & texture you prefer.
- Like more spice? Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger if you want more kick. Or 3/4 teaspoons- live large! Add 1/4 teaspoons of ground cloves if you’re so inclined, too.
- Garnish? Why not sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of the shortbread before baking? I wish I did that for this batch. OR, mix some confectioners’ sugar and milk together to make a simple glaze, and then sprinke a bit of nutmeg into it. Spread over the barely warm cookies after you have cut them…
- Cutting the cookies is necessary while they are still warm, so they don’t crack and crumble all over the place. (If they do crumble, you can just save all the bits for yourself, since it would be wrong to share less than perfect cookies.)
- Leftovers? Shortbread keeps in an airtight container for up to a month (hard to really believe), and it freezes well, too. (It’s so nice to have cookies on hand when you want to crumble them and sprinkle them over a Rich Chocolate Pudding, for example. Sigh.)
- Want more shortbread? I understand. Try the Espresso Shortbread, or the Classic Shortbread for a plain Jane fix.
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August 15th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Cookies