inspired by Martha Hall Foose
Shortbread is the quintessential Holiday cookie. Made with butter, sugar, and flour, shortbread is rich and dense. With so few ingredients, it is also a breeze to make. The secret to its flavor is using high quality organic or European style butter and pure vanilla extract.
There are many variations to basic shortbread. Adding different extracts, nuts, chocolate, and even coconut will give you something a little different each time. I think this recipe is particularly festive because of the polka dots. Bake a batch and then watch them disappear.
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam
2 Tbsp lemon curd
You can buy lemon curd in the jam section at your grocery store, like I did here, but it is very easy to make. See my recipe for lemon curd.
1. PREP DOUGH: Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until it forms a dough.
2. PRESS IT INTO A PAN: Press dough into an 8-inch round springform tart pan with a removable bottom, square pan, or rectangular pan. Score dough to mark wedges, squares, or rectangular “fingers”.
3. POKE IN THE JAM AND CURD: Bake 8 minutes. Meanwhile, fill two pastry bags, child’s medicine dispenser, or baggies with a small hole in the corner with jam and lemon curd. Using a chopstick or a wooden spoon handle, make small divots all over the dough. Fill divots alternating with lemon curd and jam. Those are your polka dots.
I have so many of these liquid medicine dispensers. I don’t have a pastry bag. These work like a charm. Just be sure that your jam is seedless – seeds will clog up the hole.
I used a chopstick to poke the holes, but you could use the end of a wooden spoon.
4. BAKE UNTIL DONE: Return to oven and bake just until golden along the edges, about 10-15 minutes. Do not let it brown. Cool in pan on a rack. When cool, remove from pan and cut along your scored marks.
These cookies make nice gifts
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