Christmas Treats - Red, Green and Shortbread

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Dec 7th 2009 @ 4:30PM

Photo: Monika Bartyzel

With the December chill setting in, there's nothing quite as sweet as cold air warmed with the scent of Christmas cookie baking.

One of the easiest holiday cookies to make is Scottish shortbread. A simple combination of flour, sugar and butter, these cookies could not be any simpler, but with a little flair, they can become an elegant and delicious addition to a party table or Santa's helping of cookies and milk on Christmas Eve.

The Recipe

The pictured shortbread uses a recipe adapted from "The Essential Baking Cookbook." The addition of semolina gives the recipe a mouth-crumbly finished product.

Scottish Shortbread

9 ounces butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup semolina

Preheat the oven to 315 degrees F and prepare baking trays.

Mix the dry ingredients with a whisk and then cream in the butter. The resulting dough should be soft and able to be formed. If too dry, gradually add small additions of butter until you get the desired consistency.

Form into shapes, prick the surface with a fork, and bake until firm and golden. (See below.)

Flavor and Coloring

Since there is no funky science in shortbread magic -- just flour-sugar-butter -- many flavors can be added for extra sparkle, everything from lemon to five-spices to light brown sugar. The fun is in the experimentation, whether it's creating a wholly unexpected flavor profile, or just playing with the ratios and ingredients to go crumbly, buttery or the perfect balance of in-between. Since it's such a simple combination, it's hard to go wrong with a little experimentation -- even if you want to go savory.

To make the shortbread more festive, add in a little red and green. There are two ways to do this. For no change in texture or flavor, grab some dye. You can fully color the cookies, or press some drops into the dry ingredients with the back of a spoon for a speckled look. The other option is colored sugar. You can add it to the recipe directly, or simply separate the dough into batches and color with various sugars. Adding sugar will change the texture a bit, but will result in brighter-colored shortbread pieces.

The Shape

Classically, shortbread is formed into a thin circle cut into pie wedges. If choosing this traditional approach, separate the above dough into two equal parts before shaping into a flat circle and scoring with a fork. However, one of the big perks with shortbread is that it can be baked in a myriad of shapes with special tins, as long as they are shallow enough to cook through before the edges get too dark. Simply spray with a nonstick spray and then press the dough into the pan. Shortbread is easy to work with, so the dough should come together and pop out easily.

Mini tart pans can be filled half-way for a larger, crinkly cookie, metal chocolate molds can make bite-sized pieces, and our favorite -- press the dough into mini madeleine trays for an elegant, clam-shell look.

And if your kitchen isn't stocked with good oven-safe molds, simply roll out the dough to approximately a half-inch depth and cut with circles or small holiday cookie cutters.

Filed Under: Holidays, Recipes, Features
Tags: 12 days of cookies, christmas, Christmas baking, christmas cookies, Christmas treats, shortbread, shortbread recipe