Best Easiest Shortbread

Best Easiest Shortbread
one part granulated (white) sugar
two parts unsalted butter
three parts all-purpose (plain) flour
that's it!

Simply cream the butter and sugar, incorporate the flour, roll into a log, chill if needed, slice, bake at 350◦F for five minutes or so until lightly colored. Alternately roll and cut into shaped. Couldn't be easier or tastier!

Basil Shortbread

Basil Shortbread. This idea came about when I was trying to make shortbread cookies that were naturally a vibrant green color. Basil seemed like a great idea. I have seen basil used in desserts before as well. Fresh basil works in these cases, but once you cook the basil, it develops a distinctive savory flavor. It wasn't a total fail though, because I decided to use the shortbread for a canapé base. It has excellent flavor, the perfect texture, and is a beautiful color. To complete the canapé, I topped it with a crumbles feta cheese torte I had made, a piping of tahini tamari sauce, and a cherry tomato half. 

Basil Shortbread
2/3 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 large handful basil
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

Preheat oven to 325◦F. Line an 8x8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
In a food processor, process the sugar and basil until the sugar is green and no large pieces of basil remain. This creates basil sugar and is quite tasty - I think it would be nice to rim cocktail glasses. It doesn't have that 'cooked' basil flavor yet. Add the butter and cream until smooth. Then add the salt and flour and pulse until just combined.
Press dough evenly into prepared pan. Bake for about 20 minutes until edges are just beginning to turn brown. Cool, then cut into squares. 

Buttertart Bars

Rich, sweet, buttery buttertarts are great all year round, but they seem to be especially popular around holiday times. Though buttertarts are not particularly difficult to make, the forming of each individual tartlet can be tedious and time-consuming. These bars are a great way to get all of the flavor of buttertarts in a convenient, handheld bar. The crust is a rich and buttery shortbread crust instead of the typical pie crust, which I think pairs even better with the filling.

Buttertart Bars
CRUST
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
FILLING
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup golden corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/3 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a 9x13 inch pan.
CRUST: Crumble all ingredients together well. Press evenly and firmly into prepared pan.
FILLING: Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in the corn syrup and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the baked crust. Pour the filling over top. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until almost set. Cool until set before cutting.

Easy Shortbread Cookies

Christmas is coming - here is a quick and easy, buttery shortbread cookie recipe. 

Easy Shortbread Cookies
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
3 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Preheat oven to 300◦F. Grease or line cookie sheets. 
In a large bowl, cream butter until very soft. Cream in the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and cornstarch until thoroughly combined, dough will be stiff and dry. 
Roll into small balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Press lightly with a fork. 
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Makes about four dozen cookies. 

Berried Treasure Bar Cookies

This is the Valentine's dessert my mother made. It essentially consists of a shortbread base, a strawberry custard-like filling, a strawberry jam glaze, and a chocolate ganache frosting. The recipe came from one of our mystery cookbook novels, which has never failed us with a recipe yet and contains many decadent, often chocolaty delightful desserts. This dessert has several steps, though none of them are very difficult, so the dessert needs to be made in advance to allow for setting time as well. The crust is baked, then the filling is baked. The bars are then glazed with the strawberry jam and chilled, then the chocolate is placed on and chilled again. Actually, the original recipe called for raspberry jam, but we prefer a seedless strawberry jam. I am sure any other jam would work too, but a red jam is nice for Valentine's Day. The bars would also be nice garnished with some fresh strawberries or raspberries. Because these squares are fairly rich, one 9x13 inch pan can go a long way, but it may also be cut into large hunks for a satisfying dessert for your Valentine. 

These bars are pretty tasty. They have a great composition and stay together well. The shortbread crust makes a firm base that holds the entire square up. The filling does not have an overly strong strawberry flavor, so I would have liked to taste some more strawberry. My favorite part is the chocolate topping, which is something like a sweet ganache, and it firms up on top of the squares. Actually, I preferred eating this when it was hot from the pot, but it really does make the squares delicious, as they aren't overly sweet on their own. The book also featured another recipe similar to this one, the basic change being that the base is a brownie base instead of a shortbread base. I bet I would enjoy these even more, since I am definitely a chocoholic! 

Shortbread Base

This basic shortbread recipe is great to use for a wide variety of dishes. It makes great cookies, pie crusts, cut-outs, square bases, cheesecake bases, or cake bases. I most recently use it for my traditional miniature German Black Forest Cake (here). It is sweet, buttery, and not too dry or crumbly. The dough is so easy to work with, it holds together well, it lasts a long time, and may be refrigerated before baking or frozen after baking. It is also really quick, easy, and requires only four common ingredients. 

Shortbread Base
1/4 cup butter
2 Tablespoons icing (powdered) sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
scant 1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour

Beat the butter and sugar. Add the cornstarch and flour. Roll out into desired shapes. Bake at 325◦F for about 15 minutes.
This recipe makes a very small batch, the perfect amount for a five inch cake base. 

Nonna's Shortbread Cookies

I was quite pleased one day, when I was staying at my grandmother's house and found my great-grandmother's recipe for shortbread cookies. I was looking through my grandmother's stashes of recipes, as we were sharing, comparing, and discussing. I came across this one, and immediately copied it out for myself. I could remember my great-grandmother's shortbread cookies, and they were always the best. They were rich and buttery, never dry and crumbly, not too sweet with  a nice flavor. And they were always cut out in pretty little shapes, such as flowers and hearts, and adorned with just a light sprinkle of colored sprinkles. I couldn't wait to make them myself! 
The first time I made them was like a step back in time, they were exactly like my grandmother's - perfect. I enjoyed inhaling them warm from the oven. I used this prized recipe (which I'm sorry, but I cannot share) in the exhibition baking competition, as it is certainly award-winning. I entered it in the heritage plain shortbread category. So I could not use sprinkles on these cookies, but I did use the same shape my grandmother often used. This recipe has been passed from my great-grandmother, to my grandmother, to my mother and me. I am sure it will be passed on again and again, as it is certainly the best! And it is quite easy as well! Whipping up a batch and baking takes no more than 30 minutes in total. 

Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies

I have been looking to make lemon squares for a while now. Simple, but light and refreshing. Most recipes for lemon squares are very similar - essentially a shortbread crust with a filling composed primarily of lemons, eggs, and sugar. These are reminiscent of lemon meringue pie - without the meringue. They can be stored in the fridge for a few days, but are best served fresh.  They can be dusted lightly with icing sugar, but they really don't need it. A refreshing, spoonful on summer lemon taste! These have plenty of lemon flavor, but are not lip-puckering sour.

Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies
CRUST
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup cold butter, 2 blocks cut into 8 cubes each
FILLNG
4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups white (granulated) sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
grated lemon zest from 3 large lemons 
1/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a 9x13 inch rectangular baking pan.
CRUST: Combine the crust ingredients in a food processor until it resembles pie crust dough. Alternately, this can be done by hand by cutting the butter into the flour and sugar. Press firmly into prepared baking pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until edges are golden.
FILLING: Mix the eggs and sugar. Add the juice and zest. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour on top of hot crust and bake 30-35 minutes until just set. Chill completely before serving.

X Cookies

These are the shortbread cookies my mother made for the graduation party. Again, the symbol of the university is an X and the color is royal blue. It was extremely difficult to find an X cookie cutter. We had one, but the edges were rounded and it was quite tiny. Our neighbors had one, but it was even smaller and the shape was very thin. My father tried bending one out of an old tin of chocolates  but it ended up being way too big. then he bent too more from circle cookie cutters, and they turned out to be a good size, but extremely fragile. Believe it or not, all of the stores we checked, even specialty baking stores, did not have an X cookie cutter. Pictured about are two cookies using the small round cookie cutter, and two cookies using the second cookie cutter my father bent. Who would have thought it would be so much trouble just to make X-shaped cookies! Oh well, we managed in the end, and decorated them with blue sprinkles.

Chocolate Cheese Coconut Pie

Since I had some extra cream and some extra cream cheese around, I found a recipe that incorporates just the right amount of both. And it is a chocolate pie, and who doesn't like chocolate pie? This recipe is very simple and quick to make as well. It is quite rich, so cut pieces small. 

Chocolate Cheese Coconut Pie
9 inch pie shell
1 cup whipping cream
1 package (8 ounces/20 grams) cream cheese, cut into cubes
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350◦F. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the cream and cream cheese until mixture is melted and almost completely smooth. Add the chocolate and vanilla, continue heating until melted and smooth. Stir in the coconut. Pour into prepared pie shell. Bake for about 35 minutes. Pie will set upon cooling. Cool, then chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. 

For this recipe, I used a homemade shortbread pie crust. I patted enough of the mixture into the pan to make a pie shell, then I sprinkled a bit of the extra on top of the chocolate filling around the edge before baking for a little extra shortbread crumble. 

Chocolate Shortbread

Every year my mother makes shortbread cookies around Christmastime, from a delicious recipe used by my great-grandmother. They are rich, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth, and absolutely delicious! I love their buttery texture and delicate taste, This year, my mother decided to get creative, and she replaced some of the flour with a little bit of cocoa to make chocolate shortbread cookies. Although I prefer the traditional shortbread, the chocolate shortbread were good too. They were certainly interesting, and something a little different for a change. Instead of sprinkles, she also put some candy-coated chocolates on the chocolate shortbread. Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment decision!

Sudoku Cookie Puzzle

This is what I made using the brown sugar cookies from yesterday. I simply rolled the dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, and then cut the dough into a bunch of small squares. I didn't bother to move the squares apart or anything, I just baked the cookies as one giant mass. Then, right after baking them while they were still warm, I re-cut them, although the cut lines were still clearly visible; they just needed a bit of reinforcement. The squares are not perfectly even as you can see, but they don't look too bad.
I arranged these cookies into nine rows of nine, and then partitioned them into 3x3 squares with 9 cookies in each square. This was done to resemble a Sudoku puzzle. A Sudoku puzzle is a number puzzle in which every horizontal row, vertical column, and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1-9. The puzzle is started with some numbers already filled in for you, the more numbers given. the easier the puzzle is. My cookies are an example of a puzzle that has been completely solved. I just used some purple icing to write the numbers on the cookies. I followed a completely solved Sudoku puzzle that appeared in the newspaper (I love solving these puzzles, hopefully I didn't make any mistakes). I used a different color icing and a thicker tip to partition off the nine different squares. And that was it! Pretty simple, and a cute puzzle. Another idea is to only put a few squares on the pan, and have the diners solve the puzzle before they can eat it!

Brown Sugar Cookies

Brown Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300◦F. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the butter with the sugar. Add the flour and salt, mix well. Gather dough together and roll into 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cutters, or simply into squares with a knife. Place cookies spaced slightly apart (they do not spread) onto an ungreased or lined baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes until set. Watch carefully, as they may burn if cooked longer than this.

This is a quick and easy cookie recipe. It is different from the usual sugar cookies because it uses brown sugar, giving the cookies more of a caramel flavor. These cookies are a bit like shortbread cookies too, because they use lots of real butter, and a large proportion of flour, and no egg. I used these cookies as the base for a creative design I will feature in tomorrow's post.

Rhubarb Peach Shortbread

Well, it is rhubarb season, and since we have a little patch of it in our backyard that was ready for picking, I decided to bake with it. Actually, our rhubarb patch seems to be pretty sparse this year, and since we didn't have very much, that's why I added peach to the recipe. The original recipe only called for rhubarb, but I have heard that peach and rhubarb are a great combination. Rhubarb and strawberry would have also been delicious, and is a more common combination, but I didn't have any strawberries and I did have a basket of perfectly ripe peaches. I found this recipe idea in a local newspaper, though I didn't really follow the recipe that closely at all, just for the general idea of it. It is called rhubarb shortbread, which immediately makes me think of shortbread cookies or traditional scotch shortbread. This is a bit different though, it is more like a crumble, but it contains a nice amount of butter and no oats. It is made with a shortbread crust, then the fruit filling, then the remaining shortbread crumbled on top. I used a pie pan to bake mine, which was the perfect size, and also cut it into nice wedges. I guess you could call this a cross between a crisp and a shortbread-based pie.

Rhubarb Peach Shortbread
1 cup fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
granulated (white) sugar, for sprinkling
2-3 medium, ripe peaches
1 1/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
additional ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
additional granulated (white) sugar, for sprinkling

Wash the rhubarb, drain, and sprinkle with sugar. The amount of sugar depends on your personal preferences and how tart your rhubarb is. Use your best judgement. Cover and set aside for a few hours or so to form juices. Wash, peel, and chop the peaches and add to the rhubarb.
Preheat oven to 350◦F. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender (or a knife, two forks, or your fingers) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg, mixing lightly until dough begins to come together. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared pan pan. Top with fruit, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle remaining shortbread mixture over top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until topping is golden. 
This cuts well straight from the oven, better when slightly cooled, and even better when chilled. It also tastes great all three ways, and can be served alone or with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or a dash of icing sugar.

Chocolate Overload Cookie Bars

Chocolate Overload Cookie Bars
CRUST
1 1/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or hard margarine, softened
FILLING
2 packages (8 ounces/250 grams each) block cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CRUST: Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, and sugar. Cut in the butter until well blended. Spread mixture into bottom of prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. (This can also be done in a food processor using a steel blade).
FILLING: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and mayonnaise (this can be done by hand, but is easier with an electric mixer). Gradually add the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the melted chocolate, then the vanilla. Pour this over the crust (it does not have to be cooled). Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

This recipe comes from one of my mystery novels that cleverly incorporates food and recipes into all of the murders (the detective owns her own bakery). This may sound strange, but these books are really good, and all of the recipes I have made have turned out amazing. These bars are just like a chocolate cheesecake, they are very rich and soft in texture. I really liked the crust, it was firm enough to easily support the bars, but not hard, and I liked how it was chocolate too. The addition of mayonnaise makes the bars richer and smoother, and you can't taste it, it would be similar to adding sour cream to a cheesecake. I have even heard of adding mayonnaise to cakes and banana bread for moistness. These bars are great served just as is, but a sprinkling of icing sugar, a dollop of fresh whipped cream, or a few berries would make nice toppings. Nothing too rich or sweet, as it will overpower the bars. As much as I love chocolate, drizzling chocolate sauce over these bars would just be a bit too much.

Fluke, Joanne. "Chocolate Overload Cookie Bars." Recipe. Peach Cobbler Murder, New York: Kensington, 2005. 357-358.

Dreamy Chocolate Squares

These are Dreamy Chocolate Squares, probably one of the richest, most chocolatey, and most delicious squares I have ever tasted. They really live up to their name! I found the recipe handwritten on an index card in my mother's recipe box a little over a year ago. My mom told me she used to make the squares quite a bit, and that the recipe had come from my great aunt. I couldn't remember these squares, and my mother said she didn't know why she ever stopped making them. So I made them for myself for the first time about a year ago. They were soooo good! "Why did you ever stop making these?" I asked my mom. She isn't sure why, but it's probably the same reason this is the first time I have made them since then. These squares are very rich, decadent, special, and probably quite bad for you. They are also somewhat expensive to make, considering they require 3 cups of brown sugar, 3 cups of icing sugar, almost 2 cups of butter, and four eggs. But that is what makes them soooo delicious. It is difficult to describe these squares in words, a piece of heaven, death by chocolate, and scrumdilliumptious all work well, as does a simple mmmmmmmmm! 

My photography skills certainly don't give these squares the justice they deserve!

Unfortunately, I cannot share this family secret recipe with you. However, I will describe these squares. They start with basically a brown sugar, rich buttery shortbread base, that doesn't even require a pre-baking. They are topped with a cakey, brownie, fudgey chocolate layer and are baked.  Once cooled, they are frosted with a thick layer of chocolate butter icing that contains just a hint of coffee for a flavor boost. They are quite simple to make, and they certainly don't stick around for long!

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies incorporate a tasty twist on a classic recipe. I have made them a few times before, and they always turn out quite good. The recipe is quite simple, and quick and easy to do. Basically, it takes a basic shortbread recipe and uses brown sugar instead of the usual white sugar or confectioners' sugar. Real butter is an absolute must, as is pure vanilla extract, and white flour.
They are baked at 325◦F for about 20 minutes, to give them their characteristic texture. This recipe can be formed into balls, logs, slices, or cut-out shapes. Like most shortbread cookies, they don't spread or rise much when baking, so you need to make them the exact thickness you would like, and you can fit a lot onto one baking sheet at once. 

This is the variation of brown sugar shortbread cookies my mother made. She rolled the dough into small balls, then made the pattern in them by pressing the bottom of a fancy drinking glass into the cookies, which also flattened them a bit. I thought this idea was very clever! This cookies are good alone, especially straight from the oven, but I have also tried them with caramel sauce, melted chocolate, and icing. Sprinkles, nuts, and candy-coated chocolates would work well too. Overall, caramel sauce is my favorite way to enjoy them! They also make great sandwich cookies.

Christmas Goodies

Well Christmas Day may have come and gone, but that certainly does not mean the entire holiday season is over. We are still entertaining and visiting guests, and of course that means food. There is still quite the stockpile of Christmas cookies, cakes, and goodies stored carefully in the freezer, which are easy and convenient to pop out for guests. This way, there is no need to worry about whipping something up last minute, and your guests can enjoy a wide variety of treats without you having to worry about a ton of leftovers. Here we have a nice display of Christmas goodies, most of which have already been displayed and talked about on my blog.  On the top plate, there are Hershey's Kiss chocolate chip cookies, and my mother's decadent chocolate fruitcake. The bottom level contains crispy chocolate smartie cookies made by my mom and button shortbread cookies my mother and I made together. The front plate contains iced gingerbread cookies I made and shortbread cookies my mom prepared and I helped decorate. This all makes for a very colorful and tasty array of Christmas goodies to enjoy! Happy Holidays!

Scrumptious Squares

Scrumptious Squares, I cannot think of a more accurate description or a better name for these squares, they truly are scrumptious. They begin with a shortbread base, followed by a layer of caramel and a cream cheese filling, with a milk chocolate topping. I found the recipe in a Company's Coming cookbook "Chocolate Squared". The recipe calls for 3/4 cup of caramel ice cream topping, but I didn't have any, so I whipped up my own homemade caramel sauce. I also decided to leave out the 1/2 cup chopped nuts called for. If you don't happen to have milk chocolate on hand, semi-sweet chocolate chips would also work for the topping, but I think the more mellow flavor of the milk chocolate creates a better balance with the cream cheese and the caramel. The method for topping these squares is the easiest and most convenient ever: just sprinkle the squares with the chocolate chips immediately after removing them from the oven. Allow to stand for a few minutes to soften, then spread with a knife until smooth. A quick and easy icing! This is another square recipe that is fairly quick and easy to make.

Scrumptious Squares
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup hard margarine (or butter), softened
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
4 ounces (125 grams) light cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Mix first 3 ingredients in small bowl until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 2/3 cup flour mixture. Press remaining flour mixture firmly in ungreased 9x9 inch pan.

Beat egg and cream cheese in medium bowl. Add ice cream topping and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add reserved flour mixture. Mix well.

Add walnuts. Stir. Spread evenly over flour mixture in pan. Bake in 375◦F oven for about 30 minutes until set and edges are golden.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let stand until very soft. Spread evenly. Let stand until cool. Cuts into 36 squares (or a lot less if I cut them). Cut them when they are thoroughly cooled, but don't refrigerate them before cutting. The chocolate topping will become too brittle and will crack when cutting.

Paré, Jean. "Scrumptious Squares." Recipe. Chocolate Squared, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 2009. 20.

Button Cookies

Another Christmas cookie to display: Button Cookies. We just started making these cookies a few years ago, but since then, they have become a tradition that is greatly adored. These button cookies are really just brown sugar shortbread cookies with holes poked in them after baking. They must be made using real butter for the best taste, and it is customary for them to be overloaded with powdered sugar, so that you inhale it when you take a bite. The holes are simply poked with a wooden skewer, we usually go with four holes, but have also tried three and five holes, which look nice too. My mother and I make these cookies together: she does most of the mixing and the baking, and I poke the holes and sprinkle with icing sugar. These cookies are quite fun to make, and they really are cute as a button.