Shortbread Cookie

Ingredients:

My mother gave me this wooden shortbread mold when I was a little girl. She never made shortbread with it but I found a recipe and gave it a try. It's delicious.

Shortbread is popular for the holidays and I decided to make some for New Year's Eve. I present to you in the winter afternoon sun...

Shortbread

2 cups flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (margarine cannot be substituted)

Equipment:

Large mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Mixing spoon or fork
8 inch round pan square baking dish

Step 1:

Ingredients picture:

Step 2:

Combine dry ingredients in bowl and mix well.

Step 3:

Add butter.

Step 4:

And cream together very well.

Step 5:

Chill the shortbread for one hour.

Step 6:

Put some flour in the mold, spread around then tap it back out. This will help with removing the shortbread from the mold later.

Step 7:

Now the fun part! Press the chilled shortbread into the shortbread mold.

Step 8:

Make sure you get shortbread pressed into the sun's rays on the edge of the mold.

Step 9:

Then put it back in the fridge for another 15 to 30 minutes.

Step 10:

Next comes the tricky part, removing the shortbread from the mold. Hold the shortbread over the pan you will bake it in and tap on the edges and back with a fork or spoon. This part may take a while, but keep at it. Even with flouring the mold some of the shortbread stuck when it came out, and I had to extract the pieces and do my best to put it back together. If you don't have a mold, you can just press the shortbread into the pan.

Step 11:

The shortbread will not rise or spread when it's baking but it will bubble. Lightly make some holes in the shortbread with a fork to prevent this. Even with the fork holes it will still bubble a little.

Step 12:

Bake in a 450 F degree oven for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 F degrees and bake for up to 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes. This shortbread was finished baking at about 18 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.

My house now smells sweet and buttery. Let the shortbread cool before cutting and enjoy!