I have a weakness for dates and I’m not sure why. My mother made a few things with dates but it was never a star ingredient. I always assume my body has some vitamin deficiency which dates must fulfill.

While shopping at my favorite Asian market last week, I noticed a package of Iranian dates. At first, I was taken aback from the relatively inexpensive price (less than $2 for 11 ounces). When I touched the bag, I knew I was on to something good. They felt so moist and tender.

I brought the bag home and have been nibbling on individual, chewy dates. For some reason, I always think of dates in cookies. The chewy, moist texture the dates lend to baked goods in one I associate with cookies more than other baked goods.

Date Cookie Recipe Ideas from Around the Web

Fearing I might finish the dates before I actually made any cookies, I sent out a tweet for date cookie ideas. Most people offered date bar recipes with one suggestion for an incredible looking date nut pie.

• Date Crumb Bars and Date Pie suggested by Claire
• Date Nut Bars suggested by Elle
• Food for the Gods (date nut bars) which Mark emailed me

Unfortunately, the ideas didn’t satisfy my itch for cookies so I continued my hunt. I puttered around online and until I found a basic oatmeal date cookie recipe from Gourmet circa 1998.

In my pantry, I also had an orphaned 1/4 cup of dried cranberries which I decided to add to the cookies and figured they would lend a tart contrast, color, and more texture. To lighten the sweet thickness for which dates are known, I also added a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest to lighten things up.

In the end, I am pleased with the chewy, rich cookies which resulted. The lemon zest worked wonders and the cranberries went nicely with the dates. Unfortunately, the cranberries didn’t visually stand out as much as I had hoped they might.

Chewy Cranberry Date Cookies Recipe
adapted from Gourmet

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup chopped, pitted dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries

1. In a medium-sized pot, melt butter over medium heat, then remove pan from stove.
2. Add brown sugar to butter, stirring until smooth.
3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt to butter mixture and stir to combine.
4. Add egg, vanilla, lemon zest, rolled oats, dates, and cranberries and stir to combine.
5. Drop by spoonfuls onto a silpat-lined (or can use parchment) baking tray. I used a cookie scoop to speed along the process.
6. Bake at 375F (190C) for 18 minutes or until golden.
7. Cool on a wire rack then store in airtight container.

The cookies will be crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle. After storing in an airtight container for a few hours, the cookie moisture will distribute evenly through the container making each one super-chewy.

Joe (who isn’t a sweets lover) ate several of these in one afternoon. While eating the first one, he exclaimed, “These would make a really good hostess gift the next time we are invited to someone’s place for dinner.” He might be right. So, who want’s to invite us over and try out these cookies?

Ever make hummus and then wonder what to do with the remaining jar of tahini? I’ve been experimenting and discovered it makes a surprisingly good cookie. These little biscuits are buttery sweet and infused with both sesame paste and toasted sesame seeds. Crisp to the bite, you might just discover you’re buying tahini to make cookies and no longer for hummus!

I’ll admit that I’m addicted to sesame seeds, so I am extremely biased about these little cookies. Maybe my body is secretly craving the health benefits of sesame seeds or maybe I’m just drawn to the toasty, nutty flavor they bring to the party.

I wanted the cookies to be more crisp than chewy and therefore baked them for 13 minutes. The cookies will be slightly chewy in the center after baking but when allowed to cool and sit overnight, they are light and crisp. I can’t stop eating them. Seriously.

Ironically, while writing this post, I discovered that Cake on the Brain (also a Vancouver food blogger) just posted about black sesame butter cookies she’s working on. What’s up with Vancouver and sesame? It must be the weather – it went from freakishly hot to cool and rainy, and is now sunny and mild today. All the Vancouverites are craving something warm and comforting, and sesame is a perfect fix.

Super Sesame Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup tahini
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds

Add the butter, sugars, and egg to a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy. Slowly add the tahini, baking soda and salt.

Add the flour and mix until combined. Fold in sesame seeds.

Using a 2 teaspoon sized cookie scoop, place balls of dough 3 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. I find it easiest to get uniform cookies by using the scoop (and it isn’t as messy), but you can also use a spoon to portion the dough.

Bake at 350F (175C) for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. I baked mine on the upper end of this time in order to make them more crisp. Store in an airtight container. Makes 4 dozen.

More sesame/tahini inspired recipes:
Crunchy Sesame Cookies – Culinary in the Desert
Gluten-Free Sesame Cookies – Elana’s Pantry
Chewy Sesame Cookies – Rosa’s Yum Yum’s

I’ve been fantasizing about citrus the past couple of days. You see, back in California, our orange tree and meyer lemon tree were both producing tons of fruit when we moved. I’ve been fairly non-sentimental about the entire house sale until today. I woke up to find a small, rainy snow flurry outside my window this morning and I craved something citrus.

You can see from my living room window that the street down below was quite a mess. I ventured out into the rain toward the small triangle shaped building in the middle of this photograph. It’s Urban Fare, a small (and expensive) upscale grocery store that’s close by.

I decided to make lemon bars, but as I walked I started thinking about blood oranges. I’ve never had one and they intrigue me. I wondered what the lemon bars would turn out like if made with blood oranges. Fortunately, the store had baskets of Moro Blood Oranges waiting for me.

The oranges have a reddish tint to the peel and were shockingly deep purple when cut open. It reminded me of working with pomegranate and just how blood red the juice can be. My cutting board looked like a murder scene.

The bars are easy to make and gave me the citrus fix I needed. I used the juice of both blood oranges and limes in order to get some tartness in the bars. Blood orange juice alone would likely be too sweet.

These turned out well and are much more subtle than a regular lemon bar. I was afraid the red color would turn too brown during baking, but fortunately it remained a dull pinkish-red. Be careful when juicing the oranges though — the juice splatters dark red dots all over the place.

After many days of waiting, I’m happy to report that as of this afternoon our house is officially sold — the sale closed (after a nail biting, near 75 day close). We’re done. I no longer own an orange tree or a meyer lemon tree.

Blood Orange Bars

Crust
3/4 cups unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar, then slowly add flour and salt until combined. Pour mixture into a small pan — I use a 11″x7″ glass pan. Press down with your fingers to flatten into an even layer. Bake at 350F (180C) for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Filling
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup juice, half blood orange and half lime
2 Tablespoons zest, half blood orange and half lime
2/3 cup flour

Whisk the sugar and eggs until blended, then add juice, zest, and flour. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour filling over the cooled crust. Return to the oven and bake 30-35 minutes, until set. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar. Cut into squares and enjoy!

More blood orange ideas:

Blood Orange Granita — Wandering Chopsticks
Blood Orange Salad — Sara’s Kitchen
Blood Orange Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake — The Food Librarian
Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Marmalade — Cere’s Secrets

Spicy and crisp, gingersnaps are one of my favorite cookies. When I buy a bag of them, they quickly disappear within 24 hours. It’s difficult to only eat one at at time.

I came across this recipe from Farmgirl Fare and the cookies turn out in-fricken-credible! Seriously, I can’t go back to store-bought after trying these homemade gingersnaps.

The recipe makes a large batch and I assume this is on purpose, since the cookies will disappear quickly. I made the recipe as written with the exception of substituting in 1 cup of whole wheat flour and using Smart Balance 50/50 sticks in place of the butter and vegetable oil ingredients. I even bought a small cookie scoop in order to make perfect looking cookies.

The recipe notes that you may want to refrigerate or slightly freeze the dough in order to work with it. Maybe it was because I added the whole wheat flour, but my dough wasn’t too soft to handle. I immediately started to bake the cookies after mixing the dough. I wanted my cookies to be crisp so I baked for about 12-13 minutes. As they cool, they will harden. At first they didn’t seem fully crisp all the way through but after sitting in a container overnight (well, for the cookies that made it through the night), they were completely crisp the following day.

For self-preservation, I decided to freeze a few dozen of the cookies to help pace myself on over-dosing. Cookie dough freezes easily and makes for a quick pop-in-the-oven treat after a long day at work. Simply scoop your dough onto a parchment lined tray and freeze until solid, then bag into whatever quantity you’d like. I froze 3 bags of a dozen cookie dough balls. When ready to bake, you don’t even need to thaw them. Place the frozen dough onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake for the full 14 minutes.

I’m already thinking that the gingersnaps would make perfect treats for my neighbors this Christmas. I usually make something and hand out to everyone on our street. One year I made chocolate truffles and last year I made dog biscuits (everyone on our street owns dogs!). This may just be the year of the gingersnap!

Blueberry filling sandwiched between two layers of a cinnamon-infused cookie crust. The result is a comforting, sweet bar cookie that can be dressed up for dessert or left casual as a mid-day snack.

I discovered these delicious blueberry-oat bars on Susan’s blog, FatFree Vegan Kitchen. These bars not only taste like a million dollars but they contain no added fat, no refined flour, no dairy, and no added sugar. Granted, you should eat them in moderation but they are healthy enough that you won’t hate yourself if you eat more than one.

As I continue to scour the web for healthy food ideas, I find myself stumbling into Susan’s blog more and more often. She provides a wide variety of different dishes, each of which can be adapted for non-vegan lifestyles should you choose to do so. Although I am not vegan myself, I enjoy cutting back on animal related products. I do find it funny how some people have an aversion to the ‘V-word’ though. When I announced that the bars were vegan, I could literally see my friends clench in unison.

Maybe people fear that vegan foods remove flavor or sacrifice the sanctity of a dish. In reality, I find it quite the opposite — a good vegan cook is like MacGyver, he or she is resourceful and able to create amazing taste sensations from healthy ingredients. Susan is no exception.

The blueberry-oat bar recipe can be found on Susan’s site. The only substitution I made was to use brown rice syrup in place of the agave nectar. I substituted in equal amounts and didn’t notice that this made any difference to the outcome. I also used frozen organic blueberries instead of fresh because I had them on hand.

The thing I enjoyed most about making these bars is that you grind a portion of the oatmeal into flour. For the brief 30 seconds or so that the oatmeal pulsed around in the processor, I felt as though I was back on the farm and grinding grains into whole flour (ok, maybe I was being a bit too nostalgic). Basically, I enjoyed turning the oatmeal in to oat dust.

The dessert comes together quickly and is then baked for 30 minutes. The cookie crust is moist yet firm, so the bars hold their shape remarkably well and are not messy to eat with your fingers (why use a fork when you can eat with your hands?).

And, they simply taste great – everyone who tried them agreed. I’m sure the recipe can be adapted for other fruits as well, if you’re not in to blueberries – I immediately thought how good these would also be with cherries and a bit of almond flavoring.

If you’re looking for any other bar ideas, I recommend the blueberry power bars that I made a few months ago. They are chewy and crisp, loaded with dried blueberries, flax, and lots of crispy brown rice.

It feels like years since I’ve blogged or even read a blog … in reality it’s been just over a week. My work-life collided with real-life and I had to put writing on hold. We rarely order take-out food and this week we ordered take-out food two nights in a row!

Fortunately, I’m back at it again and writing about these wonderful little cookies of Austrian origin flavored with almonds. I love how tender and crisp the crescents turn out. Perfect with a cup of tea or as a night-time snack, I think you’ll enjoy this fab cookie.

Almond flavoring is one of those things I equate with Christmas. Do others feel this way? My mother makes a cookie at holiday time which uses almond flavoring, and for me the flavor ushers in cold winter nights and presents under a tree. This recipe uses both ground almonds and almond flavoring, but I think it’s good for any time of the year.

Almond Crescents

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup slivered almonds, ground
1 cup flour
1 tsp. almond flavoring
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Beat the butter until smooth and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute. Add ground almonds, sugar, flour, flavoring, and salt. Mix to combine. The dough will be soft.

Coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray or butter. Take a teaspoon of dough and roll between the palms of your hands until it forms a 3″ rope. While rolling the dough in your hands, try to make the rope slightly more plump in the center and tapered at the ends. Place onto cookie sheet and shape into a curved crescent. Space cookies about 1″ apart.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until edges begin to take on a golden tone. Allow to cool, then dust with powdered sugar.

The cookies are basically a shortbread and melt in your mouth. I found it hard to stop eating them. Within a day, it was time to make a second batch :-) This time I decided to play with the flavors a bit. Instead of almonds, I used pecans. And, I replaced the almond flavoring with vanilla. I also added a teaspoon of crushed anise seed along with the zest of 1 lemon.

The second batch was good, but not as exciting as I’d hoped and they need a bit more work. The pecans made the cookies even more tender, which I liked. The anise seed did not add as much flavor as I’d hoped, so next time I would either increase the amount or consider adding anise flavoring.

The second batch of cookies are now gone and it’s time to do grocery shopping for the week ahead. I’m needing to eat fewer cookies and more fresh fruit and veggies. I have horrible will power so we’ll see how long this lasts. This may be the last cookies you see me make for awhile … unless I can figure out how to squeeze more carrots and asparagus into them.

Later this week, I’ll be trying out a fresh vegetable/fruit delivery service from a local organic farmer. For $29 they deliver a box of fresh produce to your house – I’ve signed up for a delivery every other week, beginning this Friday. I’ll share more info and photos about the delivery once I get it.

Now, it’s time to go read all of my favorite food blogs …

Delightfully chewy and crisp, these ANZAC are my new favorite thing. I’ve noted on several posts recently different ‘crushes’ I’m having for people and blogs. Well folks, I’ve got to say that the ANZAC biscuit is my new food crush.

Although there is some debate about whether the biscuit originated in New Zealand or Australia, the name ‘ANZAC’ is the abbreviation for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. It is believed that the biscuits were created during World War I as an easy to pack and ship biscuit to those fighting overseas.

Australia and New Zealand celebrate ANZAC Day on April 25 as a memorial to the military who entered into World Word I battle on this day. ANZAC biscuits are especially popular at this time of year. Since I know of a few Australian readers of my blog, I hope they can weigh in on their ANZAC biscuit experiences.

I wish I could say I was worldly enough to have known this information off the top of my head. No such luck. I discovered ANZAC in A Baker’s Odyssey, which I recently reviewed. Eager to bake something from the cookbook, this recipe used few ingredients and was quick, so I decided to give it a try. I’ve since noticed Heidi of 101cookbooks recently posted a recipe as well.

Many recipes I’ve seen on the web appear much thicker and crisp. I liked the recipe in Greg Patent’s book since the biscuits are intended to be thin and chewy.

ANZAC Biscuits
adapted from A Baker’s Odyssey

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, chopped
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup (or honey or corn syrup)
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Since the biscuits are thin, it’s best to bake them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. When removed from the oven they are too fragile to remove by spatula, with the parchment you can lift them off of the baking sheet and can set on a rack to cool.

In a bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugar, and coconut. I realized at the last minute I was out of white sugar. I decided to replace it with brown sugar and it worked perfectly. I’ve also seen recipes using a combination of half white and half brown sugar. Feel free to experiment!

Combine the baking soda and boiling water in a small bowl to dissolve, and set aside. In a small pan, melt the butter and stir in the golden syrup. Since golden syrup is nearly impossible to find here, I used light corn syrup. Once the syrup is mixed into the butter, stir in the baking soda and water mixture. Remove from heat and pour into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients.

Stir until the dough forms. It should be moist and able to hold its shape. If too dry, add a few drops water. If too moist, add a sprinkle of flour. Mine turned out fine and didn’t need either adjustment.

Place rounded teaspoon of mixture on parchment and generously space apart. I made 12 biscuits to a sheet to make sure they had enough room to spread. The biscuits will each be 3-4″ wide.

Place baking sheet into a preheated 300 degree oven for 12 minutes or until the biscuits are a deep golden brown on top. They will puff up during baking and once cooled will be very thin. Makes about 3 dozen biscuits. I made mine a bit larger, so resulted in 2 dozen. Also, I sneaked a bit of the raw dough as a snack … it’s seriously addictive.

The biscuits did not last long in our house. The taste is slightly sweet and buttery while the texture is crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle. Add these to your list of things to try — they are well worth it.

Our Easter weekend came and went without a single bunny or chocolate egg. It’s the one holiday that we don’t get into very much, other than to enjoy a big dinner. This year we were out and about over the weekend and stuffed ourselves each day. I’m embarrassed to admit that I created Easter dinner out of leftovers.

To feel as though I had accomplished something in the kitchen this weekend, I decided to make a sweet treat to start off a new work week, a rich and gooey bar cookie.

I’ve been craving bar cookies for a few weeks now and haven’t done anything about it. Well, there were the Payday treat bars from last week … well, they don’t count since I turned most of them into candy bars. I searched around on the web for awhile and wasn’t finding anything of interest. Since I wanted to use condensed milk, I went directly to the source. I found this recipe for Chocolate Maple Nut Bars on the Eagle Brand site.

The recipe is quick and simple. You make a shortbread crust and bake, then layer chocolate chips and a maple-flavored nut/condensed milk mixture. Bake again and that’s it! It’s not rocket science and is a fairly common recipe. Mostly, I am pleased it required maple flavoring which I bought many months ago with the intent of making my take on Starbuck’s maple oat scones. Clearly, that hasn’t happened yet.

The bars baked beautifully and smelled wonderful. We were watching the movie, No Reservations, so I was distracted and actually allowed the bars to cool without any forced cooling in the freezer. The movie is predictable and fine for a rental. The bars were similarly predictable and good for a quick bake job. I expected more of a maple flavor but the chocolate and other business seem to disguise it a bit.

I dressed the bars up with a few cherries and took one to Joe in the office. He gobbled it down without much fanfare, so I’ll assume he enjoyed it. They are pretty rich and gooey, so be prepared to drink a glass of water with each one.

In the week ahead, I should warn you about something — I have a new food crush. StumbleUpon finally paid off when I stumbled across a British cook who I simply adore. I’ve been watching her series online every since and ordered her cookbook from the UK (i.e. not carried in the US). Stay tuned …

Today I decided to make these blond cookies based on the old style chewy molasses cookies. It started with my curiousity for sweetened condensed milk and how it could be utilized in other ways (i.e. I’ve seen SO many dulce de leche things lately that I’m no longer curious about making it). I figured it could replace other thick syrupy things like molasses. Since I love chewy molasses cookies, I decided to create a cookie based on these and thus My Blond Ambition was created!

Why Blond Ambition? I am a child of the 80’s and listened to Madonna until my ears nearly bled. Maddona’s Blond Ambition tour occurred in 1990, my senior year of high school. As I made these blond cookies all I could think about was Madonna and her music, so that became my preferred name for these spicy little cookies.

I started with a recipe for chewy molasses cookies and switched it to use entirely white sugar and increased to 2 eggs. I decreased the butter a bit and replaced molasses with sweetened condensed milk. I opted to use a spice blend more indicative of a gingersnap and threw in some cardamom and cayenne for kicks!

The dough came out pale as desired, and with a simple swipe of dough to my lips it seemed to have the right spice combination. Gingery flavor, followed by the other spices with just a hint of warmth at the end. This should be a new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor!

My Blond Ambition (aka, blond ginger cookies?)
2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar (plus 1/3 cup to roll cookies)
1 4 oz. stick of butter, softened
2 eggs
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 tsp. cayenne

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and condensed milk – mix until combined Add remaining ingredients, mixing until fully combined. The dough will be soft.

Use a spoon (or fingers!) to drop ~2 tablespoons of dough into the reserved 1/3 cup sugar. The dough is soft and sticky, so toss it with your fingers to coat in sugar. Once it is coated, you can handle it better. Roll between your two palms to form a ball, then place onto a greased or silpat lined baking sheet. Leave 2-3 inches between the balls.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. I slightly under bake them so they are more tender and chewy. Once they flatten and the centers puff up, I take them out — at about 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Makes about 2 dozen.

The cookies will flatten as they cool, but should remain soft and slightly chewy. The sugar creates a nice crinkly-crackly finish. They taste great — sweet and spicy. Next time, I might add in a bit more butter to make them thinner. I’m not sure if adding another egg would help to make them chewier (?). Having said this, they’re really good just the way they are! I think the spice blend works well and likely wouldn’t change it at all.

original post updated 6/4/09

Shortbread cookies are a sinful, indulgent obsession of mine. Buttery and flaky, crisp and crumbly are the best. I’ve tried many recipes and finally settled on the one below. I received it from a blogging friend you suggested I give it a try, as it came from her Scottish grandfather.

The recipe immediately struck a chord with me due to its use of corn starch, and a lot of it! I’ve never seen corn starch used in this manner and approached the recipe with skepticism. However, as one commenter notes below:

“I am both thankful and regretful for food blogs like this one. Thankful because I’ve taken so many amazing recipes from people all over the world. Regretful, though, because my own recipes which to this point have remained well-kept family secrets are being spread like viruses. Corn Starch in shortbread has been a vital, “secret” ingredient in my family’s recipe for decades.”

I decided to give it a try one afternoon and planned my day around baking the shortbread. I had laid out the butter to reach room temperature before I left the house and headed off to the dentist for my annual teeth cleaning. Somehow, I managed to tweak my back in the dentist chair and returned home to slowly lose the ability to turn my torso or neck without twinges of pain.

I wasn’t about to let any spinal issues come between me and baking. I was determined that the show must go on.

To add one more challenge, my printer wasn’t cooperating, so I had to scribble the recipe down on a post-it note. I love recipes that can fit on such a small square! It got me to thinking that maybe I should write a post-it note cookbook, filled with only those recipes that can fit on a 3″x3″ piece of paper!

Shortbread Cookies
adapted from Geggie

1 cup sugar (granulated)
2 cups corn starch
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 lb. butter, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon sugar (granulated)

1. Add sugar, corn starch, flour and salt to a large mixing bowl.
2. Cut butter into tablespoon sized pieces and add to the bowl
3. Using a spoon or your hands, mix the butter into the dry ingredients
4. When the butter is fully integrated, the mix will be sand-like in texture. It will not form a ‘dough’. Pour the mixture into a half-sheet pan (18″ x 12″ x 1″), spreading evenly in the pan. Use your hands to firmly press down on the dough, pushing the fine mixture into an even mass.
5. Using a fork, prick the cookies about 1″ apart across the entire top.
6. Bake for 40 minutes at 325F, then reduce heat to 300F and continue baking for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around edges and across the center.
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon sugar. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting with a sharp knife. Let cookies continue to cool before removing (if you can resist).

Baking Notes:
Since this recipe makes a large batch of cookies, start with a large mixing bowl. I didn’t do this and I made a mess (shhh, don’t tell Joe). The corn starch is the key to this recipe (I think) — I haven’t ever seen this before. I think it helps to give the lightness to the shortbread. It’s powdery so begin stirring gently or else you’ll be wearing most of it. (seriously, I made a big mess)

I quickly bypassed a spoon and dove into the ingredients with my hands. Just begin squishing and squishing the butter until it combines with the dry ingredients. Make sure to get any flour hiding at the bottom of your bowl. When you feel the ingredients are well integrated, then place the crumbly mix onto a baking sheet. I used a half-sheet pan and it fit perfectly.

Use your hands to push the dough into place. I found it hard to get an even surface so I busted out a small rolling pin to run over the top. Hopefully, Geggie isn’t cringing by this. As she notes, use a fork to prick holes all over the top. I assume this is to help release any steam from within the dough as it bakes.

Bake for 40 minutes at 325, then reduce heat to 300 and continue baking for 20 minutes. I baked as noted but mine took a bit over an hour. Likely, this was due to me peeking at them with the oven door open. I’m not patient. And, the smell is so amazing that you can’t help but to peek at what’s going on. When they came out of the oven I dusted with granulated sugar. I only waited about 5 minutes before trying to cut them and it seemed to work perfectly.

As the knife slid effortlessly through the shortbread it made the most joyous sound, you could hear the crisp layers of shortbread snapping under the weight of the knife. I tried to remain steady and calm but that wave of ‘oh, my god this is gonna be good’ kept wafting over me. Due to this, some of my lines aren’t too straight but that just gives it more character.

My past experiences with some recipes is that the dough doesn’t seem crispy or done all the way through. You’ll have crispy edges and top, but the center is less than desirable. Not the case here. You’ll notice how the golden brown color extends all the way through from top to bottom. These little guys are crisp and tender, buttery and rich.

Follow-Up Notes:
I’ve received alot of emails and comments about this recipe, often with skepticism. I have not tried this recipe with any substitutions or in other baking pans, so only do so with caution.

1. The amount of corn starch looks insane. It’s accurate, try not to second-guess it.
2. When mixing the dry ingredients with the butter, the end result will be a sand-like texture. Don’t expect it to form into a dough. As long as the butter is finely integrated and evenly mixed with the dry ingredients, all will be ok.
3. This recipe is not appropriate for shaped cookies. You should plan to bake on a flat sheet.
4. The batch is large and I baked in a half-sheet baking pan, which is 18″ x 12″ x 1″. The cookies were about 1/2-3/4″ thick. If you use a pan with high sides (like 3″), you may notice that the cookies do not get evenly browned/baked. A short-sided sheet will work best.
5. Since the mixture is sand-like, pour it into your pan then spread into an even layer. Use your hands to press it down firmly and evenly.