12 Days of Cookies Archives - Page 6 of 6

Finding Dorie (Vanilla Polka Dot Cookies)

By threejamigos | November 25, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Rock and rollers, Tom Cruise, that Bieber Kid, they all have their groupies. I am a Dorie groupie. Yep, not ashamed to admit it. Dorie is the bomb. Are you wondering-who? Not that hilarious little blue fish in Finding Nemo? No. “You mean Ellen DeGeneres who voices that cute little fish?” Nope. I am a fan of Dorie, Dorie Greenspan-cookbook author, dessert queen, cookie connoisseur and baker extraordinaire.

The Real Deal

I recently drove up to the City to see her at Omnivore Books, one of many tour stops (how does she do it?) for her newest book, Dories Cookies. A hefty compendium of deliciousness that, yes, is all about the cookie. Her recipe for Jammers, a buttery sable’ topped with jam and streusel alone makes it worth getting. I don’t know Dorie on a personal level, but she is gracious, humorous and generous-one of the nicest souls you’ll meet. This comes across when meeting her in person and in her writing.

All this, and her cookbooks are REALLY, REALLY good. The recipes are well written, easy to follow, and the results are YUMMY. Before heading to the book signing I spent an agonizing few minutes trying to pick which book of hers I wanted her to sign (I literally have all of them). I went with the first Dorie book I ever bought, Paris Sweets. It contains her iconic recipe for Korova Cookies, aka World Peace Cookies and has the loveliest illustrations.

As I waited in line, I talked to Dorie’s husband Michael. Wouldn’t you know it, he is just as nice! The list of recipes I have tried from Dorie’s books grows ever longer and this newest book will definitely add to it. Right about now is when I start looking in earnest for cookie recipes for the holidays. I opened the book and bam, Vanilla Polka Dot Cookies caught my eye. The cookie starts with a buttery, vanilla laden dough made with egg whites. The dough smelled so delicious, I had to stop myself from dipping my finger in the bowl and popping a swirl of dough in my mouth.

The dough comes together quickly and can be used for this recipe immediately. Scoop, roll and dip. Place the balls on a lined baking sheet press to flatten and bake. How easy is that?

The dough does not spread so press the cookies to desired thickness. I wanted a flatter thinner cookie, a smaller cookie, approximately 2.5 inches in diameter. I used a tablespoon ice cream scoop to portion the dough. The cookies took only 14 minutes to bake, well short of the suggested 20-22 minutes. My cookies were much smaller which accounts for the shorter baking time. Watch the cookies carefully when baking, they brown very quickly. All in all these fit the bill for a crispy, buttery festive cookie perfect for the holidays. I brought them to Thanksgiving dinner and the kids gobbled (get it?) them up.

The recipe for these cookies can be found here along with her recipe for World Peace Cookies, courtesy of the Star Telegram. If you are a Dorie fan like me, take a photo of any of Dorie’s cookies you make from her book, post it on Twitter or Instagram, and tag it with #Doriescookies and @Cookies4Kids. This will automatically trigger a 5 dollar donation to pediatric cancer research, woohoo! Thanks and HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Happy New Year! Champagne Shortbread

By threejamigos | December 31, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

New Year’s Eve! I have never been one to celebrate New Year’s Eve on a big scale. Every year we talk about going into the City, watching the countdown and toasting in the New Year with the throngs..and yet we ultimately find ourselves staying home, watching a favorite movie and falling asleep! We manage to toast in the new year with a glass of bubbly and something yummy to nosh on, but that’s about it. Since I have one more cookie for my 12 Days of Cookie bucket list, why not a festive cookie to bring in the New Year and to complete the list? The aha moment, let’s make shortbread. It goes well with champagne and you can dress them up easily. I had been eyeing a recipe from Christina Tosi of Momofuku fame so here was my opportunity to try it. A quick jaunt over to Sur La Table for cookie cutters in the shape of a champagne flute and a bottle and for sprinkles, I’m good to go. On the return home I popped in the movie The Holiday (put it in your Netflix queue now, its worth it just for the score by Hans Zimmer and Eli Wallach’s performance) and settled in to bake and bring in the New Year.

This is a simple shortbread made with just four ingredients, butter, flour, brown sugar, and salt. That’s it! The cookie is the perfect foil for the icing which is made with sparkling wine. I added a tiny pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla to round out the sweetness of the icing. The cookie is elevated to a festive bite with the Rose’ icing and sugar sprinkles). The icing’s a hint of pink and grown-up flavor courtesy of the Rose’. I generally don’t decorate cookies (you might have noticed) but if not on New Year’s Eve, when else? I realize my New Year’s resolution should be to practice decorating cookies well before next New Year’s Eve!

Now that I have a beautiful platter of festive cookies the least I could do is share them. So breaking with our usual tradition of a movie and falling asleep, we are headed to our friends Lisa and Mike’s house, cookies in hand plus the rest of the bottle of bubbly, to ring in the New Year!

Christina Tosi’s Cut-out cookies with Champagne Glaze can also be found on Leite’s Culinaria. Another great site for cooking tips and recipes!

Happy New Year everyone here’s to 2016!

A song to bring in the new year. Here Comes the Sun as performed by James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma

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Champagne Shortbread Christina Tosi

Ingredients

CHAMPAGNE GLAZED SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

Quick Glance 45 M 2 H
Makes about 2 dozen

For the cut-out cookies

2 sticks 8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for the work surface
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Champagne glaze

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup Champagne brut or rosé, plus more as needed
Sprinkles

Instructions

Cut-out cookies
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until well incorporated.
Add 2 1/4 cups flour and the salt and mix on low speed until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Flatten the dough into 2 evenly shaped disks or pancakes. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight. (Don’t skip the chilling. It’s essential for the dough to be workable.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove 1 disk of dough from the refrigerator, dust on both sides with a sprinkling of flour (about 1/4 cup total) and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness with a rolling pin.
Cut the dough into your desired cookie shapes—I used Champagne flutes and bottles
Carefully transfer them to the baking sheet. (Lightly flour an offset spatula to make cookies easy to transfer from the counter to the baking sheet before baking.) The colder the dough, the easier it is to cut and transfer to the baking sheet, so work quickly. Repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. Let cool to room temperature. (You can freeze the cooled, undecorated cookies for up to 1 month.)
Make the Champagne glaze
Dump the confectioners’ sugar in a largish bowl and slowly whisk in the Champagne. If the glaze seems too stiff, add a little more Champagne, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved. Whisk in the food coloring, if using.
Frost the cooled cookies with the Champagne glaze and, if desired, bring on the sprinkles.
You can store the cookies in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge for up to several days or in the freezer for up to several weeks.
You can make and bake the undecorated cookies ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. Let the cookies thaw completely and then slather with the Champagne glaze.

Almond Cookies: Homage to Mrs. F

By threejamigos | December 20, 2015 | Comments 2 comments

My brother-in-law’s mother passed away unexpectedly a few days ago. Through the years we would see her at family functions and exchange pleasantries. Every Christmas we were the lucky recipients of one of her signature pink cake boxes filled with a variety of delicious homemade holiday cookies. We all had our favorites. Me, I loved her almond cookies. They were just like the ones in the windows of Chinatown bakeries, crumbly, full of almond flavor and finished with an almond pressed into the center.

Unfortunately I do not have her recipe but I do have one by Belinda Leong of B patisserie in San Francisco. Bursting with almond flavor and buttery goodness this is an amazingly delicious cookie that for me pays tribute to Mrs. F. Baking these lovely morsels conjures up the image of her pink boxes stacked on the holiday table. Most of all it reminds me of her warm smile and her kind and generous spirit. She will be missed.

Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)/Auld Lang Syne performed by Yo- Yo Ma and Chris Botti

The recipe for these wonderful almond cookies is from Andrea Nguyen’s blog post Viet World Kitchen. The recipe was first published in the book Chef’s Table by Carolyn Jung. There were some glitches in the recipe and luckily food people are of the most generous spirit. No sooner had I emailed Ms. Nguyen she responded answering all my questions and updating her website. Here is the link to the recipe on her blog, Viet World Kitchen. I weighed the flour using the 8.75 ounces and used 1/2 cup volume measurement for the sugar. Start checking the cookies early. My batch only took 12 minutes to bake. If you like crisp, buttery, almond flavored cookies..BAKE THESE, you won’t regret it.

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Almond Cookies

Buttery, crispy, full of almond flavor. These cookies from B's Patisserie are a winner.

Course cookies

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Almond Cookies

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups 8.75 oz / 250 g all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 ounces 120 g almond paste
1/2 cup 3.5 oz / 100 g sugar
2 sticks 8 oz / 225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces 120 g sliced or chopped slivered almonds
Powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C / gas mark 4) with a rack in the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda. Set aside.
Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make the dough. Cut the almond paste into thick slices or big chunks. Put them in the mixer with the sugar. On low speed, mix the ingredients together until the almond paste has broken up into big pea-like pieces.
Pause to add the butter. On medium-low speed, beat the ingredients until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined (you no longer see flour bits). Add the almonds and use the lowest speed (“Stir” on a Kitchen Aide) to mix into the dough.
Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar in a small bowl or on your work surface. For slightly gnarly/textured cookies, pinch off balls of dough – each the size of a big cherry tomato (1.5 inch / 3.75 cm wide). Roll in powdered sugar, then place on the prepared sheet pan, spaced 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Flatten each ball slightly as you work. (If you want neater cookies, squeeze and roll the dough into a fat log and cut crosswise into pieces. Roll them into balls, coat in the sugar, etc. See the photo above.)
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown at the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for several days.

Halfway There! Pecan Sandies Day 6 Holiday Cookies

By threejamigos | December 15, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Day 6 of #holidaycookies! Another one bite wonder, this time brought to you by the delightful blog Smitten Kitchen. I have to admit, I love SK but she is making me feel like a slacker. As I struggle to get my 12 days of holiday cookies completed, multiple posts pop up daily from SK. She must have a band of elves that help her every night or perhaps she spent summer trying winter holiday recipes that she is now posting. I have this vision of her baking gingerbread in July in her apartment in one hundred degrees and the AC is broken. I think the Holiday Cookie Countdown is turning me into Grinch.

The recipe is from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming which unfortunately is not in print anymore. If you ever see a copy grab it, the Caramel Chocolate Tarts are worth the purchase alone. Smitten Kitchen + Claudia Fleming + Pecans = Appointment baking.

The key to these cookies is toasting the pecans. It’s a good cookie not great. Like many shortbread cookies they may benefit from sitting a day for the flavor to develop. I sprinkled some sanding sugar on them but I think I may make a blend of Fleur de Sel and sugar to sprinkle on my next batch (my sweet salty fixation) or maybe dip them in chocolate. The cookies are cut into 1 inch squares and 3/16 of an inch thickness. I would prefer the cookie a little larger, say 1.25 inches square and 1/4 inch thick just to give the cookie a little more substance. My little cheats call for using a ziplock bag to roll the dough in for straight edges and a pizza cutter to cut the squares, nifty huh. Still a lovely cookie to present on a platter with other nibbles.

Smitten Kitchen in July + Sand-ies which makes me think of beaches = a tropical holiday song! Mele Kalikimaka by the Brothers Cazimero. Enjoy!

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Pecan Sandies

Ingredients

1 cup about 110 grams pecans
2 cups 250 grams all-purpose flour
1 cup 225 grams or 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup 80 grams confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons 10 ml vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons 25 grams turbinado (raw) sugar (I used white sanding sugar)
1 teaspoons of Fleur de Sel

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the nuts out in one layer on a baking sheet and bake them, stirring occasionally, until they are well browned, 10 to 13 minutes (they will smell toasted and nutty). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
In a food processor, grind the nuts with 1/4 cup of the flour. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Sift together the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour, the salt, and the baking powder, and add it to the dough, mixing until just combined. Stir in the nut mixture. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Roll the dough between two sheets of wax paper to 3/16 inch thick (a rectangle approximately 10 x 14 inches). Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1-inch squares, then cut the squares on a diagonal into triangles (I skipped the last cut into triangles). Sprinkle the cookies with the turbinado sugar. Place them 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets (do not reroll the scraps). Prick the cookies with a fork and bake until pale golden all over, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Sesame Cookies: Day 5 of Holiday Cookies

By threejamigos | December 12, 2015 | Comments 1 comment

It isn’t intentional and may be a blogosphere faux pax for all I know. Like posting multiple pics on Instagram on a single day which my kids tell me I shouldn’t do. But after posting Sally’s Sesame Cookies I stumbled across another recipe for sesame seed cookies on of all places the Huffington Post. I did a bit of sleuthing as I am prone to do and found that the recipe was created by Dorie Greenspan and first published in Food & Wine magazine. That made this recipe a no brainer. After all Cookies + Dorie Greenspan is a slam dunk as far as I am concerned. So here it is a second sesame seed cookie!

This is perfect for cocktail hour. These cookies are salty with just a touch of sweetness and would compliment any happy hour libation. They have the fine crumb of shortbread and ooze buttery goodness. Totally my kind of cookie plus I love the black and white sesame seeds. To top it off they are quick and easy to make. See? SLAM DUNK.

I chose a duet to go along with this cookie since it has 2 kinds of sesame seeds and drinks are mentioned in the song. Its a classic with about a billion renditions out there. I like the version by a favorite artist of mine James Taylor. Here it is, JT (the original one) with Natalie Cole, Baby It’s Cold Outside.

A food processor makes quick work of the dough (snap) which is then chilled for couple of hours (time to cyber-shop). I originally thought I would cut the dough into little bars but they look better round. I used a 1.5 inch cutter which made them the perfect one bite cookie. Don’t be alarmed by the amount of salt, it is suppose to be salty but is not overly so. The recipe in Huffington Post calls for adding water to help the dough clump but Food & Wine does not. I was able to get the dough to clump without using water. I poured the dough into a ziplock bag and smooshed the dough just until it came together. Don’t overmix! Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness using the sides of the bag to create a nice straight edge. It may not fill the entire zip-lock bag but at least you will have 3 even sides. Chill dough until firm. If the dough gets too soft as you are cutting out the cookies, place in fridge or freezer for a couple of minutes to firm it up. You can find almond meal in most markets now a days thanks to the gluten free movement. Two pound bags are available at Costco and are quite reasonable. Black sesame seeds can be found at most Asian markets and probably at Whole Foods.

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Sweet & Salty Sesame Cookies

Ingredients

From Food & Wine Magazine by Dorie Greenspan
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal or ground almonds see Note
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large egg beaten
Black and white sesame seeds for sprinkling ( 1:1)

Instructions

In a food processor, pulse the flour, almond meal, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms large clumps.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead gently until it comes together. Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk. Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to 1/4 inch thick. Slide the wax paper–covered disks onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour, until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one piece of dough at a time, peel off the top sheet of wax paper. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out the cookies as close together as possible. Arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush the cookies with the egg and sprinkle with the black and white sesame seeds.
Bake the sesame cookies for 17 to 20 minutes, until they are lightly browned; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.

MAKE AHEAD

The rolled-out frozen cookie dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept frozen for up to 2 weeks; thaw the dough slightly before using. The baked cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

NOTES

Almond meal is available at health food stores and at many grocery stores. To make your own, process 4 1/2 ounces blanched almonds until finely ground.

SUGGESTED PAIRING

Green-appley California sparkling wine: NV Scharffenberger Brut

Cookie Sleuth (Sally’s Sesame Cookies)

By threejamigos | December 8, 2015 | Comments 2 comments

Day 4 of the 12 Days of Cookies..surprisingly I’m on schedule…I think

I wanted to choose a song that fit this cookie recipe but instead, I picked a beautiful song that is so relevant to what is happening in our world right now. Someday at Christmas sung by Jack Johnson.

When it comes to cookies I border on obsessive. If a recipe doesn’t turn out as expected, I turn into Sherlock Holmes. The game is afoot to solve the mystery of why a cookie doesn’t taste quite right, why it spreads too much or too little. I tried different baking sheets and tested parchment versus Silpat. Maybe it’s the butter, did I cream it too much or too little? Auugh, enough to drive me bonkers. I do have a few friends that I commiserate with who will leave no cookie unturned. My friend Kristine is like that. In another life we would both be happily ensconced in America’s Test Kitchen furiously measuring, testing, mixing, tasting.

Swap Cookies and Tips

For our cookie exchange, Kristine made her always-popular sesame cookies. The recipe was given to her by her mother-in-law Sally. Much like Benne wafers of the South, these little gems are crispy, buttery, and jam-packed with sesame seeds, a sesame flavor bomb. Kristine first shared Sally’s cookies and recipe at our inaugural preschool cookie exchange. I loved them. I made a batch but they just weren’t the same. The bottom looked lacey with lots of holes, the texture was different, and the cookie was much too crunchy.

This happens randomly with both tried and true recipes and new recipes. I would then e-mail the author of the recipe, call King Arthur Flour’s hotline, or run it by fellow bakers. At our most recent exchange, though we hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, Kristine and I immediately launched into a conversation about the texture change in my batch of cookies. Obsessive? Crazy? You be the judge.

Luckily, Kristine’s batch was perfect!

This is the perfect holiday recipe. It is a slice-and-bake cookie. You can make the dough in advance, throw it in the fridge or freezer, and bake off cookies when you need them. It makes a boatload of delicious cookies (~ 100 of those bad boys).

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Sally's Sesame Cookies

Also known as Bennes, these southern favorites are crisp, light and redolent of sesame

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Benne Wafer, black sesame seeds, cookies, slice and bake, Southern

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Ingredients

1 lb. butter 4 sticks
1 ½ c. sugar.
3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sesame seeds
2 c. Angel flaked coconut sweetened
½ - 1 c. chopped almonds or walnuts.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F.

Cream 1 lb. butter and 1 ½ c. sugar until blended and smooth. Do not over overmix.
Add all purpose flour, sesame seeds, coconut, chopped almonds or walnuts. Mix well. Chill; divide dough into four equal logs. Wrap each roll in plastic and keep refrigerated (may be frozen).
Take out one roll at a time and slice ¼ inch. Leave ½” space between cookies.
Bake for approximately 30-min. being careful not to over brown. I’ve never baked them the full 30-min.

Makes over 100 cookies.

Notes

Recipe is easily halved

Feed the World…Cookies! (Dorie’s Jammers)

By threejamigos | December 4, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Is it December already? Time to get in the holiday spirit. In my book that means baking cookies and listening to holiday tunes. I am an unabashed lover of Christmas music. You won’t find me anywhere near a mall on Black Friday. Instead, I’ll be home pulling out my favorite Christmas CDs and kicking back. I’ll wait for CyberMonday to get serious about shopping. For my first holiday season blogging, it seems fitting to create a top 12 days of Christmas cookies list with holiday tunes to go along. If you have a tried and true delicious recipe you make every year, I would love to post it here to share with everyone. Just email or message me on Facebook. A virtual cookie swap! Don’t forget to include your favorite Christmas song, a picture of your creation, and if there is a special story behind the recipe.

I’m Excited, Lets Get Started!

Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band Aid just for you.

Just like her World Peace Cookie, this is another yummy cookie by Dorie Greenspan (how does she do it?) aptly named Jammers. These edible jewels start with a tender shortbread cookie base topped with a nice dollop of jam and finished with a buttery, crumbly streusel topping. Before Dorie released her recipe Tim of Lottie + Doof created his version. The original Jammers are made in 3-inch ring molds. I opt to make them smaller in mini-muffin tins, an idea I found on another blog. Either way, they are delicious.

A Couple of Tips When Making these Cookies

Feel free to use your favorite jam. I often use a couple of different ones for the color appeal. Butter or spray the tins well or the cookies will stick to the pan. I use a tablespoon ice cream scoop to measure out the dough into each cup and lightly tamp the dough into the tins. This is not like a tartlet or mini piecrust. The dough should be a thick layer (~1/2 inch thick) filling approximately 2/3 of the cup. I would leave some space at the top or the jam will spill out as the cookies bake. Top with a generous sprinkle of streusel but try to leave spots of jam exposed. It is prettier that way.

Go Big Or Go Home

Christmas Eve 2022: So I decided I wanted to get closer to the original Jammer, that is, a bigger cookie. I pulled out my regular muffin tin to make Dorie’s Jammers. Through experimentation, I settled on 25 grams of dough that I tamped into each muffin cup. Yep, no rolling and cutting. This should give you a disc of dough about 1/2 inch thick that pretty much fills the tin.

The rest of the recipe is pretty much the same. Baking time is a little longer, approximately 20-22 minutes until the edge is golden brown.

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Dorie Greenspan's Jammers

Ingredients

Adapted from Lottie & Doof's version of Dorie Greenspan's Jammers by Blackjack Bakehouse

Makes about 42 cookies

Cookie dough

1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt heaping
2 large egg yolks at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

Streusel Topping

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt heaping
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Directions for dough:

In large bowl or in bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until very creamy. Add the sugars and salt and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. With mixer on low, beat in egg yolks and vanilla until well blended, about one minute.
Add all of flour at once and with mixer on low, blend with butter mixture until just combined. Do not overmix! (I barely beat it in and then combined the last few streaks of flour with a spatula.)
Press dough into a mound and cover dough in bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the dough. Cover bowl tightly with more wrap or foil and chill for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

Directions for Streusel:

Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in microwave. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well-combined and pebbly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

When ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray thoroughly. These babies like to stick a little, so grease the cups well.
Break up the streusel crumb topping mixture with a fork until pebbly and set aside.
Press small mounds of cookie dough, about 1 tablespoon-size, into each cup as though making a thick cookie crust (as opposed to a thin pie crust that will just crumble when you try to remove it from the mini muffin pan). The crust should come up to just below the rim of the cup and there should be a small indention in each cup for the filling.
Place about 1 teaspoon of jam/pie filling in each indentation, then top the filled cookies with a generous sprinkle of streusel mixture.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the top edges of the cookies are golden brown and the crumb mixture is golden.
Allow cookies to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove and allow to cool directly on wire rack until completely cool.
Store, uncovered or lightly covered, at room temperature

My Favorite Scottish Shortbread

By threejamigos | May 8, 2015 | Comments 3 comments

I love baking cookies. Every Christmas I bake an assortment of cookies for family and friends, a tradition I started years ago. Last year I made bags of granola instead and realized just how much less stress I had by not baking 10 different kinds of cookies! But (sigh), I’ll go back to baking cookies, its a labor of love and I am a glutton for punishment. There are the tried and true cookies I bake year after year; the few that show up from time to time and then, one or two new cookies each holiday season.

The Perfect Cookie

The cornerstone of my Holiday box of cookies is the traditional Scottish Shortbread. The recipe, from the long-defunct Cuisine magazine, was the bonus to the story, My Father’s Shortbread. The author recounts watching his father making shortbread every Christmas. His father’s only tools were his hands. I cheat a little and use a mixer to combine the flour into the kneaded butter but everyone should make shortbread completely by hand once.

Shortbread is my absolute favorite cookie. It’s probably because I am a butter FREAK. I love butter. People ask, do you want a little toast with that butter? Shortbread cookies are the closest you will get to just popping a little pat of moo-magic in your mouth.

The dough can be rolled and cut into traditional wedges or works beautifully as cutouts. I have in my collection a couple of embossed rolling pins that can be used with shortbread. Roll the dough to approximately 1/4 inch and then use your embossed pin to create the pattern on the cookie. The dough is easy to work with and very forgiving.

_V3A6829 — (left upper corner going clockwise) Nutmeg logs, World Peace cookies, pecan tartlets, mocha macadamia slices, jan hagels, thumbprints, crescents, peanut & bittersweet chocolate cookies, traditional shortbread, corn cookies

My Father’s Shortbread is my favorite, go-to shortbread cookie, but Bouchon’s Shortbread is a close second!

Adapted from My Father’s Shortbread by Sydney Edelson Cuisine Magazine Dec 1983

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Traditional Scottish Shortbread

Butter in cookie form

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine European

Keyword Shortbread

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Ingredients

1 pound cold lightly salted butter
1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Instructions

Work butter until soft but not melting. Easiest thing to do is pound the butter with a rolling pin Fold butter in half and smoosh it with pin (yes smoosh) until malleable but not warm.
Place butter in bowl of a stand mixer, add sugar and salt cream until combined, do not beat until fluffy as this will incorporate too much air into butter.
Add flour to butter mixture and mix on low until particles cling together. Remove from bowl and knead gently until smooth and soft. Pat or roll into a rectangle about 3/8" thick. Mark off pieces 1" x 2-1/2", prick with fork and chill for 1 hour.
Cut apart and place on cold baking sheet 1/2" apart.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees, place shortbread in oven and immediately turn temperature down to 275 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, rotate pan and leave for additional 10-15 minutes.
Cookies are done when bottoms are golden brown and sand color on top. You can use cookie cutters if you wish. Shortbread retain their shape well.

Notes

Remember to turn your oven down to 275 when you put the cookies in the oven!!!