Sort-of Shortbread
Last night, when I was role-playing with Annie, Adrian Veidt served up a plate of lemon-lavender shortbread to the the character I was playing (of course Adrian bakes! What are you saying!), and it sounded so good that I immediately wanted some. Coincidentally, shortbread is also the only cookie I had the ingredients for.
It ended up working out quite well, although we had to make some modifications when the dough wouldn’t come together. This might not have been necessary if my butter had truly been at room temperature. Recipe is based off of Jamie Oliver’s from Cook With Jamie, and can be modified with the flavorings you want – I had no lemon or lavender, so I went with orange flavor, and it was pretty good.
This is a thick dough, about the consistency of pie dough, so you won’t be able to pour it into the pan. Technically you’re supposed to roll it out to 1″ thick, but I work in a kitchen with no counter space, so I just flattened it in the pan.
Sort-of Shortbread
1 C plus 2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 C plus 1 T superfine sugar, more for sprinkling
2 scant C AP flour, sifted
1 scant C cornstarch
2 t pure orange extract
The “Oh Shit, This Dough Is Too Dry” Ingredients
1 egg
2 T cold water
Cream together butter and sugar until pale yellow and creamy. Add extract, and then flour and cornstarch and mix gently until the dough comes together. (If it doesn’t, that’s when you add in the additional ingredients. The one egg I had left wasn’t enough, but a couple of tablespoons of water did the trick.)
Transfer to square baking dish and press into bottom until fairly even. Prick the top with a fork and bake for fifty minutes at 300F. When finished, sprinkle with additional sugar and cut while still warm.