1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or
1 pecans
Directions
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside. Cream
the butter until soft and gradually add the sugar. Add the flour
mixture a little at a time and mix well. Refrigerate for one hour.
Divide the dough in half and keep one portion in the refrigerator
while rolling out the other to approximately 1/4" thickness. (The
dough gets soft quickly.) Sprinkle the dough with the nuts and gently
press them in with the rolling pin. Cut into 1-1/2" squares. Pix uses
a paper pattern as she is hopeless at estimating things like this,
unlike Faith. Prick with a fork and place the squares on an ungreased
cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Bake until golden
brown, approximately 15 minutes in a preheated 350F oven. Makes 6
dozen squares. This is a devostatingly rich, crumbly cookie.
~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES : Body in the Basement: A Faith Fairchild Mystery. Pix Miller,
Faith's Neighbor. They live in Maine. Recipe By
: Katherine Hall Page, 1994
Servings: 36 servings
Bainbridge Butterscotch Shortbread Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads
The History of Recipes
Historians have proved the existance of recipes back into history, in fact as far back into history as the ancient Egyptians, and possibly even further. Interesting though that maybe, in the main part, these old cook books were just very simple hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing food.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe found, according to experts in ancient history are a few ancient tablets in Sumerian describing the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel blissful. During the time of the Roman Empire a man called Apicius compiled a collection of documents describing recipes prepared by the Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into hors d`oeuvre, main course and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Additionally, he informs us how the ancient Romans made use of many different aromatic flavors, including some that we all recognise such as bay, fennel and dill. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful families of Europe competed with each other to offer the most extravagent meals, and as a result cooks and their recipes increased in prestige. However, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe publications became popular. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collating, trying out, and recording recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the arrival of the 20th century, cooking books were in great demand, mostly as a result of increased literacy, more free time and a general increase in wealth. The introduction of television brought us TV cookery programs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to search through thousands of recipes like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Bainbridge Butterscotch Shortbread recipe.
