Shortbread Cookies

Photo: flickr user koroshiya

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, chilled

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preparation

Cut the butter into the flour and sugar mixture. (I cut the butter in to small pieces and use a Kitchen Aid mixer; Mom still mixes it by hand.)

After the dough starts sticking together, use your hands to knead it well. You can chill it if the dough starts getting soft, but don’t leave it in the fridge too long, because it turns in to a rock.

Roll out dough (sprinkling lightly with rice flour as needed) until it is about 1/4-3/8” thick and cut.

Mom’s favorite “cookie cutter” is a small spice can. If you use the can, remember to punch a few holes in the bottom of the can so the cookies don’t get stuck in there. Use a fork and poke holes or press marks on the top of each cookie.

Bake at 350º oven for about 15 minutes total (I bake them for about 10 minutes and then turn the pan around for another 5 minutes). Remember to keep a close eye on them – the bottoms will brown quicker than the tops. Once they start turning color, they burn fast.

When they are plain, they melt in your mouth. My spin on them is to dip them in dipping chocolate or vanilla or drizzle chocolate over them.

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About

Note: This recipe was submitted by Sue Den to the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle's Ultimate Holiday Cookie Contest.

My mom’s shortbread cookies have been a holiday treat ever since I can remember and she remembers her mother making these cookies when she was a girl. I make these cookies every Christmas and they are a St. Patrick’s Day tradition in our family. They are the perfect mix of sugar and butter and melt in your mouth. It took me years to get the mix just right and I added my own touch to them by drizzling/dipping them in chocolate and vanilla. Mom wasn’t too sure about that until she tried one gave and me her blessing that my twist on the recipe was “not bad” – “not bad at all.”. We think my Grandmother brought the recipe over from Belfast when she settled in Vancouver, BC in the early 1900’s or perhaps she created the recipe when she opened her bakery chain in Kerrisdale, BC.

Note: Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour can be found at most supermarkets in the Asian food section.