Mocha Shortbread Cookies

Yes, we are still alive. You may have been wondering, since we haven't posted in quite some time. Actually, Amber hasn't been doing so bad, but I surely get an F for posts in the last year or so.

In fact, when I went to use my stand mixer today, it literally had cobwebs in it. Yes, in the literal sense of the word literal. Sadness!

But, we're back in business. I've actually made a few things in the not-so-distant past, but I just haven't been posting. I'm hoping that will change, starting today!

I love shortbread (maple pecan shortbread), and this was an interesting twist. It was actually a plan B recipe, but it turned out great. Simple, tasty, and not too sweet. Would've been perfect with some homemade whipped cream... and some hot chocolate... or ice cream!

Mocha Shortbread

(Print Recipe)

• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  
• Pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons good-quality instant espresso powder (Starbucks VIA is a good one, but use less)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• Dash of cinnamon (optional for a Mexican mocha shortbread)
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake or springform pan with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir in espresso.
3. In an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until pale and creamy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat well. Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed until well combined.
4. Pat dough evenly into pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until puffed at the edges and dark all over the top. Remove from oven, and let sit 5 minutes; then cut into wedges. Let cool completely on a rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Makes 8 cookies. Can be stored up to 1 week. 

Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies

I used to work for Starbucks in California. In the pastry case, full of terrible-for-you and not-even-that-good-tasting pastries (I guess I would rather have homemade), there was one treat that stood out. A scone. A maple oat nut scone to be exact. This scone had a wonderful maple flavor, was studded with pecans, and iced with a perfectly sweet glaze. So many delicious flavors converging in one little pastry!

But, I moved to Oregon and, alas, the Starbucks in Oregon do not carry the delectable maple oat nut scones. Sad, sad day.

These maple pecan shortbread cookies have been on my to-bake-soon short list ever since I opened my copy of Martha Stewart's Cookies. I've made many wonderful cookies from that book in the intervening years before finally getting around to these. I'm sorry it took me so long.

These cookies knocked the socks off of everyone I've shared them with. They really are a perfect winter cookie. As I've already established, maple and pecans are a natural and particularly tasty pairing. The shortbread here only compliments and highlights these homey and satisfying flavors.

In fact, these taste just like a cookie version of my favorite and now distant scones. These cookies will more than suffice in their absence. I will definitely curl up with a small stack of these and a cup of Starbucks coffee. I will once again know maple pecan bliss. Thanks, Martha!

Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies

~Print Recipe~

• 2 3/4 cups flour, plus more for work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade B
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon pure maple extract
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 24 pecan halves, for decorating
• Turbinado sugar (or regular sugar) for sprinkling

1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Whisk in chopped pecans.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and light, about 1 minute. Add maple syrup, egg yolk and extract. Beat on medium until well combined. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined. The dough should be smooth and pliable. 
3. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap. Flatten into a disk, wrap it up and refrigerate until firm, 1 /2 hours to overnight.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. (I had to let my dough warm up a little before it would roll out.) Cut out rounds using a 2-inch cookie cutter. (The only cookie cutter I had was heart shaped, though the hearts didn't really turn out in the end.) Place on a baking sheet. Brush the tops with beaten egg and place a pecan half in the center of each cookie. Sprinkle cookies with sugar.
6. Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Makes about 2 dozen

Shortbread

I never really liked shortbread, or at least I didn't think I did. I have faint childhood memories of tins and tins full of tongue-numbingly similar cookies in different shapes--though I do maintain that the ones with big sugar crystals tasted better than the plain ones. (Those might have been butter cookies for all I know--apparently, the main difference is the addition of an egg.) I do specifically remember that my dad used the old tins to store his shoe polish in the garage, but that's pretty much the extent of my interaction with shortbread.

Until a few months ago, that is. I must have been really hungry, because I ended up eating a small package of shortbread cookies that happened to be lying around one day. Before tasting those Walker's shortbread cookies that day, I'd always thought, "Shortbread--what's the point? There's no chocolate, no peanut butter, no nuts. This is one bland, boring cookie and I don't have time for cookies like that."

Well, I was wrong. The shortbread was amazing. It had such a satisfying texture and a rich, buttery sweet, but not too sweet flavor. I was really converted when I friend of mine made a batch of shortbread cookies from scratch. Fresh baked shortbread, holy cow! I immediately added it to my list of recipes I needed to try.

The really fascinating thing about shortbread is that it only uses four ingredients: flour, sugar, salt and, most importantly, butter. You can really taste everything you put in these cookies, so use the very best quality you can find and afford. Because it's so straight forward, they are easy to make and the returns on your investment will be multi fold.

This is baking at its purist. (Thank you once again, Dear Martha.)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Sift together flour and salt into a bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the butter with an electric mixer on medium (use the paddle attachment if you are cool enough to have one) until fluffy--3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until pale and fluffy--2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture all at once and mix until just combined. (It will have a crumbly texture.)
3. Using plastic wrap, press the dough into a buttered 10 inch tart pan (I only had 9 inch glass pie pan and that worked just fine...) With plastic on dough, refrigerate 20 minutes.
   
4. With a few minutes to spare, adjust oven rack to the upper third. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
   
5. Remove plastic wrap and cut out a round from the center using a 2 1/4-inch cookie cutter (I just used the rim of a glass). [Martha says to discard it, but I put in on a separate pan and cooked it too! Why waste cookies?] Put cutter back in center (or not, like me). Cut dough into 8 wedges using a paring knife. Prick the dough all over with a wooden skewer at 1/4-inch intervals.
6. Bake until golden brown and firm in the center, about 1 hour. Transfer pan to a wire rack. Re-cut shortbread into wedges. Let cool completely in the pan.
   

There are also many variations on shortbread--t's a nice base for other flavors. My next batch is going to be lime, white chocolate and almond shortbread. Oh man, I can't wait.