As I continue my tribute to a weeks worth of recipes for your
Cheap and Easy Holiday Cooking for me the most important
recipe would be the holiday cookies.
We all know how important cookies are to Santa.
My favorite family tradition is baking tons (literally) of shortbread cookies.
Beside my mom’s best homemade cookie recipes.
I love to purchase and give Walkers Shortbread Cookies
and Stockmeyer Shortbread Cookies.
But with my tight budget this year I have to bake them.
Here are the best shortcake cookie recipes I have found through the years.
Christmas Shortbread
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
Thoroughly cream sugar and butter. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and mix thoroughly. Turn out onto a surface floured with remaining 1/2 cup of flour. Knead dough until it cracks on surface. Roll out 1/4-inch thick and cut out with cutters. Prick cookies with fork tines and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 275° for about 45 to 55 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Makes about 2 dozen shortbread cookies.
Scottish Shortbread
Ingredients:
2 cups butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and brown sugar. Add 3 to 3 3/4 cups flour. Mix well. Sprinkle board with the remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3×1 inch strips. Prick with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients:
8 ounces butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Combine all ingredients; knead with hands to combine. Press into lightly buttered pans (or roll out to about 1/2-inch on a floured board and cut into shapes). Bake at 325° for about 20 minutes.
Cut into wedges while warm or break apart.
Lemon Shortbread
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or lemon extract
lemon, zest of
2 cups sifted flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Scrape sides of the bowl. Add lemon juice, zest and flour and mix thoroughly on low speed. Shape level tablespoons of dough into logs on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes until cookie spreads and is very light brown in color. Cookies may be dipped in soft lemon frosting or melted chocolate on one end. Chill to set chocolate or frosting. Makes about 3 dozen.
Walkers Shortbread Cookies
Although Walkers has their own secret shortbread recipe, the recipe for these Shortbread Cookies tastes very similar to Walkers original shortbread
Shortbread Cookie Recipe
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered or icing sugar)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9″ X 13″ baking pan and set aside. Blend flour, salt and baking powder in a medium sized bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl and preferably with an electric mixer, beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add sugar and beat. Add vanilla and beat again until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl. Turn mixer to low, and fold in flour, salt and baking powder. Mix just until blended. Press into prepared baking pan. With a bench scraper or sharp knife, score dough into 1″ X 3″ “fingers”. Do not go all the way through, just the top 3rd of the dough. Use a fork and prick the top all over. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until shortbread is a lovely shade of light brown and fragrant. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool about 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Place on cutting board and cut through the score marks. Let cool completely before storing in air tight container.
For more great Holiday Cookies Recipes here is a great site : Holiday Cookies For All
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