DECEMBER 22, 2011 ISSUE
Mountain Living
The Last Cookie of Christmas
...and to all a good night.It is finally time to enjoy the first Christmas cookies. The springerle (see Mountain Living December 1, 2011) have rested in their tin for weeks, and their traditional flavor is perfect to savor with a cup of tea by the fire.
Fueled by all of that eggs and sugar, now is the time to bake the last cookies before Christmas. After all of the rich, festive baking goods, a plain, not too sweet cookie is very appealing. Shortbread is traditionally baked during this season and, it is said, each shortbread is special because you shape it with your unique fingerprints.
Until recent years, butter and white sugar was precious, scarce and very expensive for most families, so when they splurged it was for a very special occasion. In addition, round shortbreads were made to enjoy this time of year as a symbol that the sun was reappearing, the days would grow long again and life would be affirmed.
Sunshine Shortbread
Celebrate the miracle of more light after the longest nights of the year with lemony shortbreads. You can use orange or lime instead of lemon, and just plain vanilla is a classic. Use your best real vanilla extract or, if you have one, scrape out the inside of a vanilla bean and use that for fabulous flavor. Search for the best butter you can find. When you have a recipe with just a few ingredients you want to use the most wonderful ones. We have French, Danish and Irish brands in our markets here now. They have a higher butterfat content, fresh sweet flavors and are perfect for this cookie. You do not need to bring the butter to room temperature because this recipe works better with cold butter.
½ cup powered sugar
1 large lemon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (½ pound or 2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons (granulated) sugar
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter a nine-inch round cake pan.
Place the powered sugar into your food processor. Grate the rind of the lemon on top of the sugar. Use a fine rasp if you have one (and if not, give yourself one for Christmas.) You can also use the finest side of your four-sided grater. Be sure to get as much of the yellow part as possible, leaving all of the bitter white underneath.
Process the powdered sugar, salt and lemon rind together until the visible pieces of lemon peel have disappeared and the kitchen smells like sunshine. Cut the butter into pieces (about 16, but you don’t need to be exact) and add to the processor with the vanilla. Squeeze the lemon juice, straining to remove any seeds or pulp, and add it, too. Process until everything is combined, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
Add the flour and process by pulsing until combined. This time you want to stop as soon as it is ready as over-mixing can make the cookies tough.
Get the dough out of the processor onto your counter and make sure everything is combined. If you see any flour or butter knead gently and quickly until you have a smooth dough.
Press the dough into the cake pan. Work quickly, use your fingertips and be sure it is even and level. Sprinkle the sugar over the dough, press one more time and bake until just beginning to turn pale gold, about 45 minutes. You do not want to let the shortbread brown at all.
Place onto a wire rack and let cool until just warm. If you wait until the cookies are cold it will be difficult to get nice edges. Cut into wedges and serve or store. You can make 8 very large cookies, 16 medium, or, if you have a nice steady hand, 32 elegant little wedges.
The cookies store well for days at room temperature, and you can freeze them for longer storage.
Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Sticks
First, read the above recipe for help with shortbread basics and hints for the best ingredients. Use your favorite chocolate baking or eating bar. Chocolate chips are another good choice, and you can skip the chopping step. You do not need to temper the chocolate as the peppermint candy covers the surface. The melting and dipping and chopping makes a little bit of a mess, so let everyone help and enjoy the chaos.
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups unsalted butter (1 pound or four sticks) (will need more below)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups flour
12 ounces dark chocolate (or milk chocolate, if you prefer)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 11-by-15 jelly roll pan.
Put the sugar, salt and cornstarch into the food processor and process for one minute. Cut the butter into about 32 pieces. This does not need to be exact. Put the butter and vanilla in with the sugar and process until combined. Add the flour and processed just until barely combined.
Press the dough into the pan, making sure it is even.
Bake until just beginning to color pale gold. Let cool, on a wire rack, until warm and cut into small rectangles. Place the cookies onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and heat with the cream and butter. You can do this in a double boiler or in the microwave. Heat gently and stir to make sure all of the chocolate is melted.
Chop the peppermint candy into small pieces.
Dip each shortbread cookie into the melted chocolate. I think it looks prettiest if you leave part of the cookie plain, and that also makes it much easier to dip. Let drip over the chocolate for a few seconds. Sprinkle the chopped peppermints over the chocolate and place the cookies back onto the wire racks. Let cool completely and serve or store, very tightly covered for a couple of days.
To make a comment, ask a question or find out more about sources, contact Amy at amycookehcp@bellsouth.net.
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