Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup flour
2 pinch salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and
fluffy. Mix flour and salt, then beat into butter mixture until
thoroughly blended, to make a soft dough.
To make bars: on work surface dusted with flour, pat dough into
rectangle 1/2" thick, 2" wide, and about 17" long. Use knife or
fluted pastry cutter to cut into 1" bars. Use spatula to transfer
bars to ungreased cookie sheet, leaving 1" between bars. Prick each
bar with fork several times. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly
colored. Do not overbake; the bars should not brown. Let cool on
cookie sheet for one minute, then carefully transfer to wire racks to
finish cooling.
To make wedges: Dust your hands and ungreased cookie sheet with
flour. Pat dough into ball. Pat ball into flat disk about 1/2" thick
and 7" in diameter on cookie sheet. With edge of plastic ruler dusted
with flour, mark disk in 8 wedges, cutting about halfway through
dough, and prick dough all over and crimp edges with fork. Bake for
30 minutes, then take cookie sheet out and cut through shortbread on
marked lines. Return shortbread to oven for five more minutes. Let
wedges cool on cookie sheet for one minute, then carefully transfer
to wire racks to finish cooling.
Nut Shortbread: add 1/4 c finely chopped toasted pecans, almonds,
walnuts, or hazelnuts to flour mixture.
Chocolate Chip Shortbread: add 1/4 c miniature semisweet chocolate
chips to flour mixture.
Orange-Chocolate Chip Shortbread: add 1 t grated orange rind and 1/4 c
miniature semisweet chocolate chips to flour mixture.
Lemon Shortbread: add 1 t grated lemon rind to flour mixture.
Source: _The Christmas Kitchen_ by Lorraine Bodger MM by Sylvia
Steiger, THE.STEIGERS on GEnie, 71511,2253 on CI$, GT Cookbook echo
moderator at net/node 004/005
Servings: 16 servings
Christmas Shortbread Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; Christmas; Holiday
The History of Recipes
We are able to trace the history of meal recipes back into the far past, in truth as far back into history as pharonic Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that is, generally, these early cook books were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to academics is a collection of stone tablets in Sumerian which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel blissful. As we move into Roman times 25BC a man called Apicius created a few documents which described recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his publication, he tells us how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main course and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius also informs us how the Roman cooks used a good variety of aromatic flavors, including some familiar names like basil, rue and asafoetida. Later, in the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought us many new foods and spices from the holy lands, including spices like coriander, parsley, and basil. The introduction of these new culinary ideas caused an increase in books on cooking, many of which are now in private libraries. During the next few centuries, the rich families of Wesstern Europe tried to serve the most extravagent banquests, and consequentially the best chefs and their recipes were much in demand. However, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe collections rose to prominence. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collecting, trying out, and writing down recipes to help cooks of their time. By the advent of the 20th century, cooking publications are increasing in popularity as a result of better eduction, people having increased free time and having more disposable income. The revolution that is television brings us celebrity chefs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to access thousands of recipes such as those found on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Christmas Shortbread recipe.
