~Amanda~
It’s finally that time of year… it’s Christmas Cookie Week! Each year we decide on a different theme for our cookie week and this year we were inspired by the wonderful men in our lives – Jackie’s approaching her second Christmas as a married woman and this is Conor and my first Christmas as an engaged couple so we thought it would be great to learn about the cookies they grew up eating and more about their heritages so we could carry those into our futures together. After reaching out to Conor’s mom, I learned about these traditional Scottish Shortbread ‘cookies’ that she made for them growing up and was so excited to have such an amazing family recipe to recreate.
Not only did she give me the recipe for them, but she also lent me her shortbread pans to use so I could make them just like she does.. And it was a success, not only did they look great, but Conor said they tasted just like his childhood. This Scottish shortbread is also a must make for you this holiday season because it only has four ingredients (five for the chocolate ones); butter (because every good Christmas cookies has butter, right?!), powdered sugar, vanilla, and flour – ingredients that we all almost always have in our pantries. It’s also so easy to add in the cocoa powder to make the chocolate shortbread.
So how do you make these delicious shortbread cookies? First you cream the butter so it’s nice and light and fluffy. Then add in the powdered sugar and vanilla (and chocolate if you’re making chocolate ones) and cream again. Finally comes the flour. Make sure you start this part on very low speed or you will have a flour explosion – or in my case you may want to kick it up a notch when the fiance walks over and starts hovering :). Finally, roll out the dough with your hands until it’s nice and smooth and press it into the shortbread dish to bake. Once it comes out of the oven, you only want to let it cool for about 10 minutes and then cut it into serving slices. If you wait too long it’ll firm up and crumble to pieces when you try and cut it. And now, time to enjoy!
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Cream the butter in a stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer) until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and cream until blended.
- Add the flour and combine. Knead with your hands until a smooth dough forms.
- Firmly press dough into shortbread pan that has been lightly greased with non-stick spray.
- Prick the entire surface with a fork.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and immediately cut into serving pieces while still warm. Let cool and serve or store in airtight container.
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1½ tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Cream the butter in a stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer) until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla and cream until blended.
- Add the flour and combine. Knead with your hands until a smooth dough forms.
- Firmly press dough into shortbread pan that has been lightly greased with non-stick spray.
- Prick the entire surface with a fork.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and immediately cut into serving pieces while still warm. Let cool and serve or store in airtight container.
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