Shortbread Cookies I Food

SHORTBREAD COOKIES II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add flour and mix well.
• Put through cookie press and form cookies onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

CLASSIC SHORTBREAD COOKIES IN 4 INGREDIENTS WITH ADDED 1 INGREDIENT VARIATIONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add the flour, salt, and powdered sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add in the vanilla, the butter and the 1 teaspoon of water. Pulse together just until a dough is formed. Put the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 5 inches long. Tightly twist each end of the wrap in opposite directions. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Slice the log into 1/3-inch thick disks. Arrange on nonstick cookie sheets, parchment lined or silpat lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are just light brown, about 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans half way through the baking process. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool until room temperature. Enjoy!
• Variations:
• Pulse together the tea with the flour and salt in a food processor just until the tea is in small pieces evenly distributed throughout the flour. Then add the powdered sugar, vanilla, the butter and the 1 teaspoon of water. Continue as instructed above.
• Pulse the toasted and chopped pecans into the dough and then shape into a flattened round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. On a flour dusted surface, roll the dough out to approximately 1/3-inch thick. (If the dough is too hard to roll or begins to crack, let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes until pliable.) With a sharp knife, cut the dough into rectangle shapes about 1 by 3-inches. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets and follow the cooking instructions as above. Dust slightly cooled cookies with powdered sugar through a fine mesh strainer.

SIMPLE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add flour, mix well.
• Roll out and cut into desired shapes, place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes until pale golden.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 °F. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Sift in icing sugar and beat again until fluffy, scraping down sides of the bowl often. Sift in cornstarch or rice flour and blend in. Sift in all purpose flour and salt and mix until dough comes together (it will be soft). Stir in vanilla.
• Spoon large teaspoonfuls of cookie dough (or use a small ice cream scoop) onto an un-greased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until bottoms brown lightly. Remove from cookie sheet to cool.
• Prepare shortbread recipe as above and spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet. Press a triangle piece of chocolate nougat candy into the center of each cookie and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until bottoms brown lightly.

GRANDMA'S SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together corn starch, icing sugar and flour.
• With wooden spoon (or by hand as I do it), blend in butter until soft, smooth dough forms.
• Shape into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls.
• Place 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with lightly floured fork.
• Alternatively, roll dough to 1/4 inch (6 mm); cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
• Decorate with candied cherries, colored sprinkles or nuts if desired.
• Bake in 300 Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Tips:.
• Do not substitute anything for the butter otherwise it's not a genuine shortbread cookie. ETA: Sadielady reminded that I forgot to mention the type of butter. Please forgive the D'oh moment. Please use unsalted butter. I never ever add salt. Any added salt in baked goods is not pleasing to my palate and too much salt is unhealthy but you may want to add a bit.
• You can "nuke" aka microwave the butter to soften it rather than letting it sit out. It saves time and won't alter the taste. Just make sure you don't melt it.
• If dough is too soft to handle then cover and chill for 30-60 minutes (15 minutes worked for me).
• To make Crescents:.
• Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) ground almonds or hazelnuts to flour mixture.
• Shape into logs about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick and 3 inches (7 cm) long.
• Twist into crescent shapes.
• When baked and cool, dip ends in melted chocolate.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Stir the softened butter and sugar together until well mixed.
• Add in the flour a cup at a time; you may have to knead in the last cup but don't over mix the dough.
• At this point I separate the dough roll into 3 logs about 2 inches in diameter and chill them slightly.
• If you are real adventurous you can roll the dough out and use cookie cutters.
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Once they are chilled enough to slice them, place the slices on an ungreased cookie sheet. You can make them thin or thick (I like them about an 1/8 of an inch), just bake until the underneath is slightly golden.
• They are nicest if you can hide them away for a couple of weeks in a tin, Mum always said they got *shorter* I think it meant richer and more buttery tasting.
• I only make these at Christmas and you can decorate them with sprinkles if you like before baking.

UNCLE BILL'S WHIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, combine butter, flour, icing sugar and vanilla extract; mix until mixture is a smooth consistency.
• Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Spoon out dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets by teaspoonfuls or by tablespoons for larger cookies, spacing about 2 inches apart.
• Cut maraschino cherries into quarters and place one piece in the middle of each cookie, alternating with red and green cherries.
• Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 13 to 15 minutes or until bottom of cookies are lightly browned, DO NOT OVERBAKE.
• Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes.
• Transfer onto wire racks to finish cooling.
• Store in a container with a lid and separate each layer with wax paper.
• NOTE: If you wish to add some flavor to the cookies, add 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract or almond extract.
• Use sprinkles, half an almond or half a cashew or chocolate to the top of the cookies before baking.
• A thumbprint in the cookie, filled with your choice of jam is very tasty.
• It has been suggested that the cookies be refrigerated for at least 1/2 hour before baking for a different texture.

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!

FOOD PROCESSOR SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Place sugar, flour, salt, and any optional ingredients in the food processor. Pulse two or three times just to toss the ingredients together.
• Add the stick of softened butter, cut into several pieces. Process on high for ten seconds. Stir with a small spoon to catch flour that may collect under the blades or on the sides.
• Process another ten seconds. At this point it should be very crumbly and well mixed. If you still see bits of butter, process another five to ten seconds.
• Dump the crumbly mass onto a piece of plastic wrap about 12" x 18". Let the plastic wrap help you form the mass into a log about 12" long and 2" in diameter.
• Wrap the log and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Divide dough into 16 or 24 equal parts. Roll each into a ball and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball to a 1/4" thick disk using the bottom of a drinking glass or other flat surface. Alternatively, form a crescent or other shape for the cookies.
• Bake 16-25 minutes or until the edges brown slightly. Larger cookies will take longer. Allow to cool on the paper. They are very fragile while still hot.

FOOD PROCESSOR SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Place all ingredients into food processor (use pastry blade if available.).
• Blend until ingredients form a ball.
• Press into ungreased pie pan.
• Using a fork decorate the edges and pierce throughout to prevent bubbles.
• Dust with granulated sugar if desired.
• Cook for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned at edges.
• Cool 10 minutes and then cut into 1/2 to 1 inch wedges.