Lemongrass Shortbread Cookies Food

LEMON-BUTTER SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Sift or whisk flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.
• Place butter in a large mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until very creamy. Add confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and flour mixture; mix until well combined.
• Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a round cookie cutter. Transfer cookies to ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are light brown on the bottom but still very light on top, about 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
• Whisk melted butter and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Add lemon zest and whisk again. Whisk in confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time. Add more lemon juice if necessary for a thin consistency.
• Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze and transfer to a wire rack placed over waxed paper or parchment paper. Allow cookies to sit until glaze has set, about 2 hours.
• Store cookies in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper.

LEMONGRASS SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using your electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together until it is combined.
• Place the lemongrass and 1 tablespoon water together in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute to loosen the flavors. Divide into two equal portions.
• Turn the mixer on low, then add half the lemongrass, salt and flour a little at a time, until the dough comes together.
• Dump the dough onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough out until it is 1/3 of an inch thick. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Try to cut out as many as possible from the first sheet of dough. Each time you gather and re-roll the dough the cookies will get a little tougher.
• Bake for 20 minutes-until barely golden. Allow the cookies to cool completely.
• Pour 3 tablespoons of milk in a medium bowl. Add the remaining lemongrass and microwave for another minutes to allow the lemongrass to infuse into the milk. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add a drop of yellow and a tiny drop of green food coloring if desired.
• Dip the tops of each cookie in the glaze. Use a spoon to scrape the excess off the sides, then place back on the parchment paper to dry.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
• Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.

LEMONGRASS BARS WITH COCONUT SHORTBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• For crust:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2- inch metal baking pan. Using electric mixer, beat flour, coconut, powdered sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl until well blended, 30 seconds. Add butter; beat on low speed until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan. Bake crust until golden (edges will be darker), about 25 minutes.
• For filling:
• Meanwhile, place sugar and lemongrass in processor; pulse until lemongrass is finely ground, about 1 minute. Add lemon juice; process until well blended, about 30 seconds. Add eggs; process to blend, 10 to 15 seconds. Add flour and pinch of salt; pulse until smooth.
• Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Pour filling over hot crust; bake until filling is firm, 22 to 23 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.
• Cut lemongrass bars lengthwise into 4 strips, then crosswise into 6 pieces. Dust bars with powdered sugar and serve.

LEMON SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine flour, butter, cornstarch, powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.
• Beat on low for 3 minutes ( scraping bowl often).
• Divide dough into quarters and shape into an inch diameter rolls.( You can make these rolls larger-just adjust cooking time a bit).
• Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour (minimum).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cut chilled dough into 1/4 inch slices and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 9-12 minutes.
• (Cookies will golden -- not brown.).

SUPER-EASY SHORTBREAD (3 INGREDIENTS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°.
• Cream butter and sugar together.
• Add flour and mix till texture is like clay.
• Press dough into ungreased 9 x 13 inch pan, prick all over with a fork, and sprinkle with sugar (tilt pan to cover the top evenly, then shake excess sugar back into the sugar canister).
• Bake for about 40-45 minutes (till very lightly browned--just golden around the edges).
• Let stand for 5 minutes, then cut into 24 squares while warm.
• Leave in pan to cool thoroughly. (Shortbread will not be crisp until cool.).
• Less easy method: Chill dough. Roll into 1-inch balls, then press balls to about 1/4-inch thickness on ungreased cookie sheets with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar (sometimes you can find a glass with a pretty design on the bottom, like a star). Bake at 300° for about 20-25 minutes (until edges are very lightly browned).
• Least easy method: Chill dough. Roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness, sprinkle with sugar, then cut with cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 300° for about 20-25 minutes (until edges are very lightly browned).
• Variation: Add 2 tablespoons dried lavender to the creamed butter and sugar before adding flour. It may sound strange, but the flavor is subtle and elegant. Food-grade lavender is usually available in herb bins at health food stores, and I recently found it at a great price from Atlantic Spice online (their Lavender #1).
• Variation: After cutting shortbread into squares (it will still be warm), scatter 1 cup of chocolate chips over the top, let the chocolate soften completely, then spread as a thin layer and let cool completely before removing from pan. (No need to sprinkle shortbread with sugar before baking if you plan to do this.).
• Variation: Stir 1 cup chocolate chips or butterscotch chips into the dough before pressing into pan. You can also try melting the butterscotch over the top, as above. In England, you'll find "caramel shortbread," which has a layer of caramel and a layer of chocolate on top of the shortbread. It's wonderful (of course!). I've tried various ways of doing this and various kinds of caramel, but it's been a while and I don't remember what works best. It can be tricky not to make a mess!