So most of you know that I have a full time job on top of my "full time job" as a wife and mother... Which is why new recipes are few and far between...
Well every now and then my poor baby boy is sick and I am forced to stay home with him and spoil him rotten.
Today was one of those days. I will spare you the gruesome details, but long story short, he was hacking and coughing all night and day long! It was nice to be able to give him love and nurse him back to health - one of the most wonderful things about motherhood is that Mama always makes you feel better!!! :)
Well anyway, with all of my extra time at home I became extremely motivated to do, well, everything!! I cleaned out my cabinets, hung up a mountain of clothes that had been mocking me, washed about 38,000 loads of laundry (exaggeration? Guess we will never know...) I also broke out my apron and floured my hands and got down to work in the kitchen. I whipped up something I have been craving a lot lately! Shortbread cookies!!!
My favorite thing about Shortbread in general is that it is SO versatile and can be made to suit anyone's tastes! If you read my blog much, you know that I LOVE any opportunity to alter recipes and make them unique... personalization is key to any good cook!
So how easy is this recipe you ask? Well let me ask you this: does 3 ingredients sound easy enough for you?
Yes?
I thought so...
So the basic recipe is this:
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 1/4 c sifted all purpose flour
sift together then cut in
1/2 c REAL butter (I use salted because a little extra salt is always welcome here....)
Work into a nice dough and roll into a circle on parchment paper. Cut into 8 wedges but do not separate on the sheet. Place parchment on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until cookie is firm in the middle.
Now for mine I simple sprinkled 1 teaspoon cinnamon into the flour and sprinkled 1 teaspoon pure vanilla onto the dough as I was working in the butter. Then I rolled into the circle, cut my wedges, then I sprinkled finely chopped pecans on top and lightly pressed them into the dough.
After the wedges bake you will want to recut them while still warm with a pizza cutter or knife... You can also sprinkle a little bit of white sugar on top for a nice texture and finish... That is how the shortbread I grew up with always was! But it was cut into bars and not wedges, and they made it a lot thicker than I make mine... but other than that, the basic recipe was the same!
Some suggestions:
Fold nuts into the dough
Fold chocolate or flavored chips into the dough
Cut into different sized rounds and brush with melted butter after baking and sprinkle with colored sugar
Add lemon extract and poppy seeds to the dough
Add chopped dried cranberries to the dough (ooh and some white chocolate chips!!!)
*If you cut the cookies into shapes you will want to bake them for 10-15 minutes instead of 15-20.
Start to finish these cookies take less than 40 minutes!
