I learned how to make shortbread when I worked at a local bakery cafe. It's the simplest cookie or "biscuit" to make. Not only is it easy, but you can vary it up to any flavors you like. The recipe I learned is was what I call 411, 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 pound of butter. Since then and doing some research, I've learned that shortbread has traditionally been made in ratios of 1 part sugar, 2 part butter, and 3 part flour. I still use the 411 ratios but usually halve or quarter the recipe for home baking.
I remembered last minute that I had another birthday event to go to this weekend thus decided to revisit making shortbread since it's so easy to make and people always seem to love it. I decided to do it 3 ways. My initial goal was to keep the classic flavors the same but only change up the type of sugar to test the textures. Well...I decided to change flavors to match the sugar type. I made the classic, black sesame, and almond.
The recipes below are a quartered recipe of the 411. It makes about 16 give or take 1/2" cookies.
The Classic
1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter (soften)
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of flour
Pinch of salt
2 Tbs of extra sugar
-Beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy
-In a separate bowl, add the salt to flour and mix
-Add the flour mixture into the sugar/butter mixture until well blended and forms a crumbly dough
-Dump the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and form a log about 2 to 2/14 inches wide. Wrap the plastic over the log, while holding on the sides of the plastic. You can roll the log with the edges and form a nice even round log. Refrigerate the log for at least an hour.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Take the cookie log out of the refrigerator and unwrap from the plastic wrap.
-Put the 2 tbs of extra sugar onto a flat plate or surface. Roll the cookie log in it until the log is well coated with all the sugar.
-Cut into about 1/2 inch thick slices and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
-Bake for 10 min then rotate, bake for an additional 3-6 min depending on your oven temperature. The cookie will stay pretty light and have slight yellowing on the edges when ready.
The Black Sesame
The goal here was to make a lighter cookie and add some texture and nuttiness with the sesame. I also really like the contrasting colors.
1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter (soften)
1/4 cup of powder sugar
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of black sesame
Pinch of salt
2 Tbs of extra powder sugar
-Beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy
-In a separate bowl, add the salt, black sesame to flour and mix
-Add the flour mixture into the sugar/butter mixture until well blended and forms a crumbly dough
-Dump the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and form a log about 2 to 2/14 inches wide. Wrap the plastic over the log, while holding on the sides of the plastic. You can roll the log with the edges and form a nice even round log. Refrigerate the log for at least an hour.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Take the cookie log out of the refrigerator and unwrap from the plastic wrap.
-Put the 2 tbs of extra sugar onto a flat plate or surface. Roll the cookie log in it until the log is well coated with all the sugar.
-Cut into about 1/2 inch thick slices and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
-Bake for 10 min then rotate, bake for an additional 3-6 min depending on your oven temperature. The cookie will stay pretty light and have slight yellowing on the edges when ready.
The Almond
This one was inspired by Samad and his love of almonds. I also wanted to make a 3rd cookie with brown sugar. I've made this one before and call it Brown Sugar Shortbread. It's really a nice warm feeling cookie because the brown sugar emits a fall, rainy day, smell. You can even add some spices to kick it up.
1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter (soften)
1/4 cup of brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of almond meal
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
Pinch of salt
2 Tbs of turbinado sugar
-Beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy
-In a separate bowl, add the salt, almond meal, almonds to flour and mix
-Add the flour mixture into the sugar/butter mixture until well blended and forms a crumbly dough
-Dump the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and form a log about 2 to 2/14 inches wide. Wrap the plastic over the log, while holding on the sides of the plastic. You can roll the log with the edges and form a nice even round log. Refrigerate the log for at least an hour.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Take the cookie log out of the refrigerator and unwrap from the plastic wrap.
-Put the 2 tbs of turbinado sugar onto a flat plate or surface. Roll the cookie log in it until the log is well coated with all the sugar.
-Cut into about 1/2 inch thick slices and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
-Bake for 10 min then rotate, bake for an additional 3-6 min depending on your oven temperature. It will start smelling like maple and touch of molasses.
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