DAY 7: Butter Pecan Shortbread
Rich buttery shortbread studded with toasted pecans. A simple, but delicious cookie perfect for dipping in hot cocoa!
For a nut-free traditional Scottish Shortbread, try this recipe:
RECIPE:
Tag Archives: shortbread
Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Apricot Thumbprints
DAY 4: Apricot Thumbprints
Thumbprint cookies of all varieties are always favorites around here. These apricot thumbprints are a light almond flavored shortbread cookie filled with sweet apricot jam and drizzled with an almond glaze.
To avoid cracks in your baked cookies, be sure to not pack the flour when measuring, and keep the dough covered while shaping cookies to keep the dough from drying out. (And don’t overbake. Cookies should be just barely starting to brown on the bottoms.)
For a fuller jam center, I like to add a little extra jam to the centers after baking.
RECIPE: Continue reading
Valentine Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Simple to make shortbread cookies made festive with Valentine sprinkles. So much easier than rolling, cutting out, and frosting regular sugar cookies.
The dough is quick to make with no chilling or rolling required. The addition of cornstarch to the cookie dough helps these to melt in your mouth.
RECIPE:
Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 12: Raspberry Crumb Bars
These raspberry bars are a shortbread based cookie, which makes them pretty crumbly to eat, but I love the combination of raspberries and nuts.
RECIPE:
Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Shortbread Brownies
DAY 7: Shortbread Brownies
An easy way to dress up a brownie mix (or use your own homemade brownie recipe for the top layer). Ghirardelli is my favorite boxed brownie mix, but you can you any brand made for baking in a 9×13” pan.
RECIPE: Continue reading
Eleventh Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Raspberry Almond Thumbprints
DAY 5: Raspberry Almond Thumbprints
The cookie base for these thumbprints is a light shortbread dough. Fill with your favorite jam. We love seedless raspberry or apricot jam. I always add a little more jam after baking so they are “jam packed” with filling.
RECIPE:
Raspberry Almond Thumbprints
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
About ½ – ¾ cup seedless raspberry jam
Glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
2-3 tsp milk
½ tsp almond extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in almond extract. Gradually beat in flour and salt.
Using a small cookie scoop (2 tsp capacity), place level scoops on baking sheets, about 2” apart (I can get 20 cookies on a baking sheet). Roll scoops of dough into balls; return to baking sheet. Using the back of a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each cookie. Fill each indentation with about ¼ teaspoon jam.
Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until baked through, but still pale. Don’t overbake. Remove baking sheet from oven and let sit for one minute. If desired, add a small amount of additional jam to the centers of the cookies. Cool cookies completely on wire racks.
Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, 2 tsp milk, and almond extract in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk until smooth, adding additional milk if necessary. Place glaze in a Ziploc bag; poke hole in one corner with a toothpick or skewer. Drizzle glaze over the cooled cookies.
NOTES:
- For easier filling, heat jam for 20 seconds in the microwave before adding to centers of cookies.
- Apricot and peach jams also make good fillings
- Keep the dough covered when you are not working with it, or it will dry out and your cookies will have more cracks
Makes about 4 dozen small cookies
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