1-2-3-4 Can I Have a Little More?

All together now!

The first cookie request was shortbread. One of the easiest things to make and one of the most difficult to perfect. They should be tender, but not flakey, sweet, but not cloying, simple, but flavourful.

Sounds nearly impossible, I know. But really, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3... 4.

This recipe came from an old friend of mine. We did a cookie exchange every xmas, and I'd ransom my army of tiny gingerbread men for her shortbread coins. When I finally saw how she made them, I was stunned. So few ingredients and the preparation breaks all kinds of cookie rules. But, rules were made to be broken, right?

I've actually got plans to break more, so I figure this is a good way to work you into the idea of making cookies in a somewhat less than traditional manner.

Shortbread Cookies

• 1 c brown sugar
• 2 c unsalted butter
• 3 c flour
• 4 tbsp cornstarch

Now you know how I managed to remember the recipe all these years.

The most important thing to notice though: UNsalted butter. Most cookie recipes include salt to help the leaveners work, and so salted butter can be used as long as you decrease the added salt. This recipe, you may notice, requires neither of those. No salt to decrease, so no salt in the butter.

Brown sugar is also not entirely traditional, but with the absence of vanilla or any other flavouring the little bit of molasses goes a long way. It also adds a bit of gold to the "coins."

Now, this is where things get a little weird...

Put all of the ingredients into a bowl. (Butter really needs to be soft and room temperature)

Squish them.

I told you we'd be doing weird non-cookie preparation things.

You have to use your hands for this. Have to.

Don't knead, just squish. Kneading will start gluten forming and lengthen the dough. We want shortbreads, not longbreads.

In only a few minutes you'll end up with a very soft ball of dough. And no spoon to wash.

Much too soft to do anything with right now. 

So, split it into two, make sausages out of them, and chill them like we did to the creamsicle cookie filling.

Give them at least a half hour to chill and stiffen.

I left mine in there for about 2 hours.

And preheated the oven as soon as I took them out of the fridge.

300 degrees.

With a sharp knife, slice them just under a half inch thick. 8mm. or 3/8 of an inch.

They don't spread much so you can pack quite a few onto the parchment covered sheet.

Ideally, shortbread cookies should have no colour on the bottom of them. The low cooking temperature makes that easy. If you use white sugar and temps as low as 200F (you have to cook them for 20-25 minutes in an oven that low) you can get very pale cookies. Me, I like the caramel flavour that comes from the brown sugar and I'm not patient enough to wait 25 minutes for a sheet of cookies.

So, I do these at 300 for 15 minutes. Some came out a little on the golden side, but this is what you're looking for:

Top and bottom are pretty much the same colour.

They're very soft when they come out of the oven. Give them a minute on the sheet, and then slide the parchment onto the cooling rack.

When they're cooled, stack them into the magic cookie tin.

The crumbly, sandy texture of these absolutely melts in your mouth.

A few dozen of these and you can have my entire gingerbread army.

What cookie have you used as currency?

Intoxicatingly Indulgent Fudge

Pistachios are one of my favorite things, so when it comes time to think of something green to make for St. Patrick’s Day, they are always at the top of my list of ingredients.  This year, I decided to put them in fudge, but not just any fudge.  Bailey’s Irish Cream fudge.  What other kind of fudge would you make for St. Patrick’s Day, after all? 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons brown rice syrup (or corn syrup)
• ⅓ cup cream
• ⅓ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• Pistachios

Before you start cooking, butter a pan and set it atop a kitchen towel, then drop in 4 Tablespoons butter.

In a 3 quart or larger saucepan, place your sugar and syrup. 

Measure out the cream, Bailey’s, and water, then pour that over the sugar. 

Stir everything together over low heat. 

When the sugar is mostly dissolved, increase the heat to medium and continue to stir constantly until the mixture comes to a full boil.  Pop on a lid for 2 minutes. 

During that time, get a clean spoon or thoroughly wash the one you’ve been using, and get a small dish of ice cold water.  When you remove the lid, scoop a small amount into the spoon and allow it to drip into the cold water. 

When you’ve reached the right temperature, the mixture will easily come together into a ball that will just hold its shape, but is very pliable still.  If it’s not there yet, allow it to continue boiling, checking it again every minute or so. 

Turn off the heat and pour the hot mixture over the butter in the prepared pan.  This mixture is extremely hot so be very careful.  

While that’s cooling, line a smaller pan with parchment and set it aside. 

After that, it’s time to work on your nuts.  Break the pistachios out of their shells and remove any loose skin.  It just covers the pretty green color. 

When your mixture has cooled to the point that you can comfortably hold your hand on the bottom of the pan, it’s time to start stirring.  A wooden spatula is the perfect tool for this job.  Start on one side and begin scraping the edges into the middle. 

It’ll look like a broken mess at first, but eventually all the butter will be incorporated. 

Continue scraping and stirring.  As you do, the mixture will begin to become opaque.  But at this point, it’s still running in ribbons like a thick syrup. 

Keep stirring.  See it becoming more opaque?

Just a bit more, and when you see the texture start to change it will become less sticky and blob like and will start to hold its shape somewhat. 

It’s time for your nuts.  Sprinkle on about ⅔ of them. 

Stir them in and spread the mixture into the parchment lined pan. 

Sprinkle on the rest of your nuts and press on them lightly with your palm. 

My reason for making this fudge was really just because I thought it would be cute for St. Patrick’s Day.  I was surprised by how amazingly delicious it is.  It’s one of the best flavors of fudge I’ve ever tasted.  Definitely worth the trip to the liquor store, especially if you can get your hubby to go for you. 

What’s your favorite green food?