I've always loved shortbread. The beautiful simplicity of mixing butter, sugar and flour together to get a crumbly melt-in-your-mouth cookie amazes me. It is an uncomplicated, international buttery morsel that can be dressed up in a whole lot of different ways.For this version I added pistachios. I usually like to add chocolate chunks to mine but the crowd I was making them for were nut-lovers. Always up for something different, I roughly chopped the yummy red/green nuts and mixed them into my favourite shortbread recipe.
The cookies came out very lightly browned on the bottom and were pleasingly firm yet not dry and chalky. They had a sutble sweetness to them making them perfect for tea. The pistachios added some nice texture and crunch to the finished cookie. I enjoyed the nut shortbread and would like to try them again using pecans and toffee bits.
The recipe I used is from Canadian Living and it is suitable for many types of add-ins. The only step I missed (because I was in a rush) was the chilling of the dough for 1 hour. I'm not sure how much of a difference this makes since the cookies came out great regardless. If anyone does know, please enlighten me. :)
Recipe: Shortbread Cookies
Those look absolutely delicious!! I might try them with pecans instead though. Just something I don't like about green nuts!
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely shortbread! These cookies are just the perfect pale colour of shortbread I adore, which suggests how tender they will be when you bite into them. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of "A Shortbread Sampler" by Mary McGrath? It's a collection of all-shortbread recipes from the former food editor of the Toronto Star, and it's an absolute GEM. Definitely one of my favourite cookbooks!
Michelle - Thank you! Let me know how the pecan ones turn out. :)
ReplyDeleteTania - No, I haven't heard of the collection you mentioned but it sounds like something I would definitely be interested in. Thanks for the tip!