Recipe: Shortbread

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions

1

Preheat oven to 325F. In a medium bowl stir together flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. Using your hands, shape the mixture into a ball and knead until smooth.

2

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough until 1/2 inch thick. Using a 1-1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut dough into circles, rerolling scraps as necessary. Place circles 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until bottoms just start to brown. Transfer to write rack and let cool. Makes 16 cookies.

3

*To make shortbread strips, on a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 6x4-inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Using a utility knife, cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 16 pieces. Bake as directed.

4

Spiced Shortbread: Prepare as above, except substitute brown sugar for the granulated sugar and stir 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves into the flour mixture.

5

Cherry-Orange Shortbread: Prepare as above, except add 2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel with the butter and stir in 1/3 cup snipped dried cherries after cutting in the butter.

6

Butter-Pecan Shortbread: Prepare as above, except substitute brown sugar for the granulated sugar. After cutting in butter, stir in 2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans. Sprinkle mixture with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla before kneading.

7

Lemon-Poppy Seed Shortbread: Prepare as above, except stir 1 tablespoon poppy seeds into flour mixture and add 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel with the butter.

8

Cranberry Shortbread: Prepare as above, except after cutting in butter, stir in 1/3 cup snipped dried cranberries.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 98, Total Fat 6 g, Saturated Fat 4 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 16 mg, Sodium 62 mg, Carbohydrate 10 g, Total Sugar 2 g, Fiber 0 g, Protein 1 g. Daily Values: Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 0%, Iron 3%. Exchanges: Starch .5, Fat 1.
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Credit: Recipe from www.recipe.com.