Shortbread - 3 Ways

One of my goals this Christmas was to do more baking. Along with sugar cookies and dog cookies, I tried my hand at shortbread for the first time. They turned out so well that I wanted to share the recipe with you.

I tried two different methods, rolled cookies and piped cookies. I'm partial to the piped ones, but only because of the chocolate chips.

Rolled Shortbread Cookies (2 flavours)

2 cups of butter, softened
1 cup of icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar)
1 cup of cornstarch
1/4 tsp of salt
4 cups of flour
Zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
Gummies or other candy to decorate
Granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Beat the butter until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl mix the icing sugar, corn starch, salt, and flour. Stir the mixture briskly with an egg whisk (or sift it if you have a sifter) to get it light and airy. Add the dry mixture to the butter, a little at a time, until all is combined. Split your dough into two parts and add the lemon zest and lemon juice to one portion, mixing it in evenly.
Cover each dough portion with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 325F.

Roll your dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut your cookies into shapes. Place on a greased or parchment-covered cookie sheet.
-For the lemon cookies, sprinkle the tops with a bit of granulated sugar (coloured sugar would be fun!)
-For the plain cookies, slice your gummies in half lengthwise if they are thick and place a half in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown. Let cool completely.

Whipped Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

2 cups of butter
1 cup of icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar)
1/2 cup of cornstarch
1 tsp of vanilla
3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp of salt
1 cup of chocolate chips
Piping bag

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Mix in the cornstarch, vanilla, flour and salt. Beat until fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 325F.

Let your dough warm back up and transfer to a piping bag. (You could also drop the cookie batter onto the cookie sheet by spoonful if you don't have a piping bag.) Pipe your cookie dough onto a greased or parchment-covered cookie sheet in swirls, flattening them slightly with a fork or spoon. I'm not afraid to admit that mine look a bit like poops. I know you were thinking it.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown. Let cool completely.

Thoughts: I found that piping the cookies was really difficult as the batter didn't want to stick to the sheet and  kept lifting up when I pulled the piping bag away. I would probably drop them by spoonful next time, but it was something I wanted to try.

Just look at Little Miss Cookie Monster wanting to know which ones are hers. :-)