Three Cookies, One Dough

Shortbread cookies are my absolute favorite. You know you've had a good shortbread cookie when it melts in your mouth like a chunk of powdered sugar...oink oink! This my friends, happens when there is a perfect marriage between butter, sugar and flour. The most decadent, so sinfully perfect that I can eat at least 10 in one sitting shortbread cookie I've found so far, belongs to Sugar Butter Flour, based on Sunnyvale. At only $1.50 a bar, a girl could buy 6.6 cookies with just $10.

It just so happens that any shortbread based cookie, is also on my favorites list. There are many, many, many things on this list, in case you're wondering.

A very special gf requested cookies for her birthday treat. So, instead of making just one type of cookie, I opted to make three different variations, from one basic shortbread cookie dough.

The following recipes are based off of Sunset Best Ever Cookies magazine and Joy of Baking.

Makes two batches:

Basic Butter Shortbread

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup of corn starch

2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup of powdered sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 pinches of salt

Preheat over to 350F

1. In a small bowl, mix the flour and cornstarch together.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add vanilla extract and salt and blend well.
4. Fold 1/3 of the flour into the butter mixture and stir until just blended. Continue to incorporate the flour 1/3 at a time.
5. Divide the dough into 3 separate balls, wrap and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes to 1 hour for easy handling.

Jam Shortbread Sandwiches

1 ball of shortbread dough

Jam, jelly or preserves of your choice

Yields about 24 cookies, or 12 sandwiches

1. Take out one ball and roll it flat, to about 1/8 inch. Make sure your rolling surface and rolling pin are lightly floured. If the dough is too sticky, return it to the freezer for another 15 minutes or so.
2. If you plan on working with all three balls, place the other two balls in the fridge, so they don't get too hard.
3. Use up to a 2 inch cookie cutter in any shape. I used a 2 inch flower shaped cutter.
4. Take the left over scraps, reball, chill, and repeat the process. Or, you can add this to the other two dough balls.
5. Bake until the cookies just start to brown, 10-12 minutes.
6. Cool the cookies for at least 15 minutes.
7. Take your favorite jam, jelly, or preserve (I used apricot and blackberry), slather on a heathy portion on one cookie and sandwich with another.
8. If you fill these with dulce de leche, they can be a variation of alfajores (also on my favorites list).
9. Optional: Lay all the cookies flat and dust with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Covered Shortbread Cookies

1 ball of shortbread dough

8 ounces of high quality dark chocolate - I used Sharfenberger bittersweet chocolate

Yields about 16 cookies

1. Take out your second ball and roll it flat, to about 1/2 inch. You want this one thicker, since you're not sandwiching it.
2. Cut into any shape you have on hand.
3. Take the left over scraps, reball, chill, and repeat the process. Or, you can add this to the last dough ball.
4. While your cookies are cooling, heat the chocolate over a double boiler by putting a metal pan over a pot with 2 inches of simmering water. You don't want to boil the water because this could burn your chocolate.
5. Make sure to stir the chocolate constantly, and mind the bottom of the bowl, so the chocolate does not burn.
6. Cool chocolate until it's easier to work with and spread over your cookies.
7. Eat the rest of the melted chocolate, or save in your fridge for some strawberry dippin'.
8. If you are lazy, you can also try spreading Nutella over them. =)
9. If you're fancy, you could temper the chocolate so it stays nice and glossy after it cools. I'm not fancy.

Florentine Wedding Cookies

1 ball of thawed, malleable shortbread dough

1/2 cup of minced, lightly toasted hazelnuts

1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl

1/4 cup of cocoa powder for dusting

Yields lots of balls. Lots.

1. Incorporate the hazelnuts into the dough. The best way I found to do this, is to roll out the dough, sprinkle the hazelnuts onto the flat surface, fold and re-roll until it is well incorporated.
2. Form 1 tablespoon sized balls with your hands. It helps to have some powdered sugar in the palms of your hands, to prevent any sticking.
3. Roll each ball in the powdered sugar.
4. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, then cool.
5. After the balls are cooled, shift them with a bit of cocoa powder.

Note: Traditional Florentine wedding cookies have 1 teaspoon of almond extract as well. I didn't add this to mine and still ate about 1^37493287.

I wrapped these up on an old hat box, lined with tissue paper and they were ready to go. Make sure you separate each later of cookies with a bit of wax or parchment paper, so they don't stick to each other.