Mammy's little baby loves shortbread
Amid the murmurings that followed Kevin's brilliant post on what used to be a private and quiet Christmas tradition in St. Pete (well, maybe not quiet), a heard a voice calling out for a good Christmas cookie recipe. Well, here's the best one I have.
I love shortbread with some thing that borders on an obsession and I performed around with if for years until I perfected a recipe that produces a buttery, particularly salty, truly candy and flawlessly sand textured shortbread. The components couldn't be less complicated, the artwork to this one comes from the ideal oven temperature and time spent therein.
I used to try to make those with a spoon, however they ought to be of a uniform thickness or they may not have the proper texture. On a lark I offered a cookie gun one year and it yielded the precise shortbread cookie. Who knew? Some people name them cookie presses, however I name it a cookie gun. It makes me sense more macho that manner.
Anyhow, I sold a Wilton Cookie Press (gun! It's a gun!) Pro Ultra 2. It's ideal --masses of shapes and it's easy to load and clean.
My Ultimate Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and flour. Beat on low for one minute, then on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Drop cookies by spoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven. Watch them like a hawk. Pull them out of the oven at precisely 8 minutes or they will scorch. Once they're out of the oven let them cool for a couple of minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Sprinkle them with powdered sugar while they are still hot if you'd like.
That recipe will make sufficient shortbread to feed an army however worry not. Take the extras, throw them in a meals processor, grind 'em up and make an wonderful crust for a cheesecake.