Shortbread Cookies

These are really yummy cookies! I've made them for 3 different events and at each I've had recipe requests and lots of compliments. They're fairly simple to make (if you don't mind rolling out dough). You can dip them in chocolate or leave them as is- delicious either way! I made them over the holidays and dipped the cookies in chocolate and they looked great in the tins I gave out as gifts. (Someone actually said they were professional looking!) The original recipe is from "The Roux We Do" cookbook, but because I don't always follow the recipe as written, my modifications follow. Enjoy!

Here is the recipe as printed in "The Roux We Do":

Shortbread Cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degress.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together butter and 1 C sugar until just combined. Add vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Mix on low speed until dough starts to come together. Turn out onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness and cut with a 3-inch cookie cutter of your choice. Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the edges begin to brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

For a fun twist, dip half in chocolate. Simply combine 1 C semisweet chocolate chips, or any type you prefer, with 1 tsp shortening. Microwave for 45 secs. Stir, and if necessary, microwave a bit more, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip cookies and place on wax paper.

Yield: 2 dozen

My modifications:

1) I don't usually wait for the butter to soften to room temperature. I'm impatient! So, I microwave the butter just long enough to soften (about 5 secs in my microwave).

2) Even though I have an electric mixer, I'm usually too lazy to use it, so I use a regular bowl and hand held mixer. I've mixed it by hand in the past before, too and it's turned out just fine.

3) I don't sift my flour & salt.

4) After the 30 minutes in the fridge, it gets too hard to roll out w/o cracking so I let it sit at room temp for a little bit and then roll it out. In retrospect, I could probably put it in the fridge for less than 30', but I just get to doing other things and end up coming back to it 30, 60.... minutes later.

5) I roll them to about 1/4 inch thick and bake for 20 minutes.

6) I don't sprinkle with sugar after placing onto the cookie sheet.

7) Recently, I used Ghiradelli's dark chocolate for dipping. Melting directions: Combine 1 C Chocolate chips with 1 tsp. shortening. Microwave for 30 secs, stir, and then microwave for another 30 secs. Dip half the cookie and then put them in the refrigerator to harden. I typically use candy-making chocolate (the type that comes in wafer form). You just melt the chocolate and dip, no need to add shortening nor refrigerate. Read More...