Shortbread is by far my husband’s favorite. It’s not difficult to see why. Flaky, buttery, and rich, these delightful squares will satisfy even the pickiest of sweet tooth’s. Try these with a lovely cup of tea or as a light breakfast or snack. They’ll make you forget the troubles of the day…
To make these squares, you will need:
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
To make this recipe:
Reheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spray a 13×9 inch pan with cooking spray or line the pan with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray for easy removal and clean up.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, salt, and nutmeg together.
Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form and the butter is the size of frozen peas. (You can also work the dough with your hands or use two knives to do this, but it will take longer).
Stir in the vanilla.
Pat the dough into the prepared pan and bake the shortbread in a preheated oven until it is golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cut the shortbread into 24 squares while it is still warm. Transfer the squares to rack to cool completely, or let them cool completely in the dish. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.
*You can add a lot of things to this—try coconut, almonds, chocolate chips (milk chocolate, white chocolate, or semi-sweet) and toffee…yum! Or, for fruity shortbread, consider adding dried cranberries or crancherries and substitute the vanilla extract with raspberry extract.
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