Shortbread

I am a baker, and shortbread is one of my favourite things to bake.
I sort of giggle to myself every time I make shortbread. You see, I had this friend, and she was not a baker (but the best hairdresser ever). However, one day she decided to try her hand at shortbread. After all a few simple ingredients, how tough could it be??

Well, she went and got the ingredients and went home to bake.

She combined the butter, sugar, flour and vanilla and followed the directions to the letter. She rolled out the dough and put it in the oven after carefully preheating it. After 15 minutes, she checked on them, and they were not done, so she checked the recipe. Yes, it said 15-20 minutes, so she waited 5 minutes and checked again. Still undercooked. So she waited.

You see, my friend had never had shortbread before and was under the impression that all cookies should be baked until a nice, even golden brown.

I don’t think that she ever baked again. But those shortbreads live on.

So my favourite shortbread recipe is:

1 cup butter
½ cup powdered (icing) sugar
2 cups flour

I preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

I cream the butter, sugar and flour together, then refrigerate for about a half-hour.

Then I roll out and bake for 15-20 minutes depending on size.

I love this recipe as it is very adaptable. For example, you can substitute some of the flour for cocoa powder and make chocolate shortbread (about ½ cup).

You can roll them in balls and add chocolate kisses to them or hollow out a bit and add some of your favourite jam.

This is a holiday favourite in our house. And in January, a perfect choice to go with a hot chocolate to warm you up on a cold winter’s day.