Scotch Shortbread Cookies

Two days of cookies!  Yay!!

Yesterday's post featured Frosted sugar cookies.  Today we have Scotch shortbread cookies.  While sugar cookies will hit your sweet spot, these shortbread cookies are deliciously light and simple.  These two cookies complement each other well.

Scotch shortbread cookies surround pink frosted sugar cookies.

A plate of Scotch shortbread.

You may notice that my Scotch shortbread cookies show flecks of brown in them.  That's because I used a combination of Golden White Flour, with the bran and germ included, plus a little of my home-ground soft wheat flour.  Since my grinder doesn't grind as finely, you'll see the flecks of wheat in the cookies.

Recipe credit:  My friend Linda gave me this recipe.  Here she is at a Christmas tea, holding her favorite tea mug.

On to the recipe.  It's really easy.  Three ingredients.  Can you handle that?  I also double the below recipe, because you can never have enough cookies on hand and because they freeze so well.


Linda's Scotch Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour (I use Golden White, which includes the bran and germ)

Cream butter and sugar.  Stir in flour.

Here's the only "tricky" part.  The recipe instructs you to chill several hours--it'll be hard as a rock, though.  Chill an hour, two at the most.  Or, chill until whenever, then pull it out of the fridge and let it sit for an hour or two, or until you can roll it out.

Roll the dough 1/4" to 1/2" thick on a floured surface.  I floured very lightly, and it was just fine.  Cut cookies out with a 1 3/4" cutter.  I used a 1 1/2" heart-shaped cutter, which worked great.  I think smaller cutters are better than the really big ones for this recipe.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes.  They don't really brown, unless you've severely overbaked them, so keep an eye on them.  They should look set.  I never know myself when to pull them out of the oven, but I haven't ever ruined them, so bake according to your oven's tendencies (I tend to have to bake slightly longer).

Cool slightly; remove from pan.  Makes about 42 cookies.

Yeah, you know I took pictures.  (I love picture books!)

I mixed the dough--a double batch, of course--in my Bosch Universal Mixer.  Awesome machine.

I put the dough in a 4-cup glass measuring bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and chilled it.

Stacked by Danny (notice the perfect pattern) in a freezer container.

Not too sweet, but sweetly simple.

Back to life,
Christine

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You Got Dough? I Got Sweet!

As a homeschool mom, I am taking a guess that if you're reading this blog, you're a mom.  You may probably be a homeschool mom.  You may also be a mom who makes a lot of things from scratch, even if you don't enjoy cooking or baking.  Finally, I'm guessing that you know how to make bread.

When I bake bread, I make four loaves at a time, and every now and then (not often enough, according to my young men), I turn a loaf (or two) of the dough into cinnamon rolls.  Once the dough is made, it's only a matter of minutes to roll up some cinnamon-y sweet goodness to rise along with the bread.  Never fear--if you aren't into baking bread, you can purchase bread dough at the store.

As you read the recipe below, you'll find that I don't measure much when I make these.  I just go with what looks good.  Once the dough is ready, you really can't go wrong!

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

One recipe bread dough
butter (about half a stick), softened
cinnamon and sugar (maybe half a cup or more)
confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar), about one cup
milk (just a tablespoon or two)

Once your bread dough is made (or bought), oil your counter.  Don't use flour; too much flour will dry out your dough.  I spread the oil around with my hand, then handle the dough with my oily hands.

On the oily surface, roll out dough to measure about 15" wide by 8" long.  With an icing spreader, spread softened butter all over the surface of the dough.  Spread it as thin (or thick!) as you want.  Then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar (one cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon) over the butter.  Sprinkle as much or as little as you want.

Starting at the back edge, roll up the roll toward you, keeping it as tight as you can.  Once it's completely rolled up, pinch the edge all along the roll to seal it up.  With a sharp knife (I use a serrated knife), carefully cut the roll into 12 equal portions.  Place each of the portions into a 13x9 pan.  Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour or more.  Once they're risen, heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the rolls for 20-30 minutes, until the tops are golden and the dough looks done.

Remove from the oven and let cool.  Once they are completely cooled, in a measuring cup with a spout mix about one cup of confectioner's sugar with a tablespoon of milk (add more milk if it's too thick, or more sugar if it's too thin).  Drizzle this mixture over the rolls.  You can leave the rolls in the pan to serve, or you can separate them and place them on a serving dish.

Cinnamon rolls are a hit at my home!

Back to life,
Christine

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