Rosemary Shortbread

We all have our personalized list of holiday treats that must make an appearance each year. If they don’t it just doesn’t seem like the holidays are complete. When I’m at my parents’ house my list includes cream cheese filled cinnamon muffins. It’s a remarkably easy recipe prepped the night before and enjoyed hot and fresh from the oven every Christmas morning. They are a family favorite. One year one of my siblings suggested that we might not need to include those in our breakfast menu and I’m pretty sure they were cast out into the cold winter’s night to have a good long think about what they just said. Words have consequences. But it wasn’t all that bad really. We were in California after all.

Another thing that I tend to start craving in December is shortbread. It’s one of those cookies that is not necessarily a Christmas cookie but for whatever reason has been filed that way in brain. Holidays = a steady stream of shortbread.

This year though, when fall rolled in and I instantly went into hygge mode, shortbread became a daily necessity. Somehow it broke free from its holiday cage and became the MVP of my afternoons.

I love a good shortbread. It’s such a humble cookie with a remarkably humble ingredient list. When baked to perfection it has an almost powdery consistency that could read as dry but somehow doesn’t. Instead, they melt in your mouth and before you know it you’re reaching for another one before you’ve even finished chewing your first bite.

The humble ingredient list includes butter, powdered sugar, flour and salt. That’s it. Despite the all the shortages we had this year I always had those ingredients in my kitchen so shortbread fell into my baking rotation fairly conveniently. It’s also a fun dough to work with as you spend a few minutes kneading it and the smooth silky texture of the dough is very therapeutic.

Adding rosemary is not absolutely necessary but I do love how this savory herb plays with the butter and sugar. It almost has a pine-y essence to it so it makes a simple cookie fit right in with all the warm winter vibes filling our homes right now. If you are uncertain about the rosemary just make the dough without it and knead a bit in with smaller portion of the dough. Another perk of shortbread is that it is not overly sugary which means its the perfect cookie to carry us out of our Christmas cookie high into the new year. Because, despite what new years resolution culture says, the new year (in my opinion) should be celebrated with cookies and all the hygge we can muster.

Yield: 16-18 cookies

Author: Laura Gable

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Rosemarry Shortbread

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 H & 15 M

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and rosemary with an electric mixer on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, 3-6 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the flour until combined, about 30 seconds
2. Using your hands, press the dough into a ball and then transfer to a lightly floured counter and knead until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Roll it out so that it is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut cookies into what ever shape you fancy (I’ve done 2” circle or freehand squares/diamonds). And place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a fork. Poke some holes in each cookie. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge and chill for 20 minutes. 
3. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Sprinkle the cookies with the granulated sugar and bake till they are pale golden brown, 40-45 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. 
4. Let the cookies rest on the sheet for ten minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

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