Recipes For Cooking

Showing posts with label shortbread. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

SHORTBREAD MELTAWAY COOKIES

My Hubby has started a new hobby...wood turning and I couldnt be happier. I am quickly accumulating beauties like the piece below which is made out of birch (he harvests wind-fallen birch and spruce trees from the forest behind the house). He used to teach college level hand thrown pottery, so Im guessing some of those skills have carried over to his new wood turning attempts. In any case, I am very happy with the results.

Todays Shortbread Meltaway Cookies are quick, easy and they literally do, melt in your mouth.
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1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoons vanilla
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Cream the butter, in a stand mixer, until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until the dough is well mixed and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
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Roll dough into one inch balls and roll them in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and lightly press down with a fork. Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the outside edges of the cookie start to turn golden. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Blueberry Shortbread Bars – Please Don’t Call These Cookies

I’ve gotten a lot of shortbread requests, but haven’t done a video for it yet, since I’m not a huge fan of that particular cookie in its classic form. However, I love those little bars you see in the pastry case at the coffee shop, which feature a slightly moister shortbread base, topped with some kind of seasonal fruit.

I always wondered how they were made, and then I saw this peach shortbread post on Smitten Kitchen, which looked just like the aforementioned bars. So, I adapted that recipe, losing the egg white and switching out peaches for the very user-friendly blueberries. Besides, by adding fruit and calling them “bars,” we have something that sounds so much healthier than “cookies.”

There are no special skills required here, but you really want to get your hands on a wire pastry cutter, literally. Sure, you can dirty your food processor, but a pastry cutter will do the job quickly and easily, and you can really feel and see what’s happening in the bowl. Of course, if you’re not doing the dishes, go ahead and use the machine.

As I say in the video, any summer fruit will work, as long as you don’t use too much, and it’s not too wet. You need to have room for the crumbs on top to nestle down around the fruit to hold everything together. Also, if you roll with a particularly large entourage, you can easily double this recipe for a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 12 bars:

6 1/2 ounces (by weight) AP flour (about 1 1/2 cups of sifted flour, aka not packed)

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Chinese 5-spice (or a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg)

1 stick (1/2 cup) very cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon ice water, dripped over mixture

about 3/4 cup blueberries, or enough to cover surface

View the complete recipe