Hello Loooooong weekend! It’s only been two days of school and I’m already counting down the days until next summer 😉
Since it’s Labour day weekend, it only seems right that I post something fun… say maybe a yummy cookie recipe? But then again, do I really need an occasion to post about cookies? Didn’t think so 😉
Today’s shortbread cookies are DELICIOUS, as in one-cookie-is-never-enough-and-sometimes-neither-is-two kind of delicious. C’mon, I know you know what I’m talking about!
A few notes about the recipe
Shortbread cookies should be super soft and basically melt in your mouth. How do you achieve that? Well, by adding a little bit of cornstarch, it’ll gives them a killer fine texture. However, the secret is to add just enough to achieve this texture. Excess cornstarch can lead to an uncooked starchy feeling in your mouth, which is NOT what we want here or any recipe for that matter! I’ve found that using 2 tablespoons is the perfect amount.
The second trick to ensuring a soft cookie is to bake them until they can just hold there shape. The brilliant thing about shortbread, is there’s no eggs. So even if it’s under baked it’s still safe to eat. Heck, you could eat straight up cookie dough if you wanted. Hahaha, to be totally honest, I don’t care if there’s raw egg in the cookie dough, I’m still gonna try some… You know, for quality control reason 😉 But as I was saying, the perfect shortbread is done baking when they’re semi-firm and look dry. If the edges are beginning to brown, then they’re over baked.
Finally, these are WHIPPED shortbread, which means once all the ingredients are combined, crank you mixer up and let it run for a good 8-10 minutes. If you don’t whip the batter enough, it’s going to take A LOT of hand muscles to pipe that dough out!
Whipped Shortbread
Ingredients
-1 cup salted butter,at room temperature
-3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
-2 tbsp cornstarch
-3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Directions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
2. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the cornstarch and flour, mix until fully combined.
3. Crack the mixer up to high speed and beat for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
4. Transfer the dough into a piping bag lined with a medium star tip. Pipe 2-inch rosettes onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 300°F
6. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until they can just hold their shape and the tops look dry.
7. Remove from oven and let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. These cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 1 month.
Block Twenty One 