Kristine’s Satisfying Shortbread Cookies

Kristine-Business Development Coordinator:

Being from a small town up north, where outdoor activities were not always enjoyable or even above freezing, we spent many fun family moments inside. During the especially cold days, we’d all gather in the kitchen and bake cookies. On more than one occasion, we made shortbread cookies—a family classic; we also learned pretty quickly shortbread batter tasted much worse than chocolate chip cookie dough. Many great family memories and traditions were forged in our kitchen. Now that I have a family of my own I plan to carry on these classic Christmas traditions in my own home.

Whipped shortbread cookies have always been a favourite of mine, but really anything sweet is! It’s a great cookie to eat with hot chocolate since it just melts away in your mouth. Plus, they are so light and small that you can snack on a few at a time (I know I have!). These are also great to make if you don’t have a lot of time to cook and want to whip up something quick to impress friends and family. I’m personally not a huge fan of candied cherries, so I added my favourite dark chocolate chunks instead. I think it’s more of an upgrade anyway and pairs nicely with hot drinks. I hope you make your own family memories baking these cookies as I did when I was younger.

Total Time To Make: 30 Min. | Servings: 30

Ingredients

1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
¼  Cup corn starch
1 ½  Cups all-purpose flour, sifted
½  Cup powdered sugar, sifted
½  Tsp vanilla
1 Package of dark chocolate chunks

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until smooth and fluffy.
3. Add in the cornstarch, flour*, powdered sugar, and vanilla, and whip until light and fluffy**. Make sure to whip the dough until it comes together into a ball and isn’t crumbly (this is important, see Notes).
4. Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 Tbsp each, and place them about 2” apart on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
5. Dip a fork into a small bowl of flour and press the cookies down with it to flatten them. Make sure to dip the fork into the flour and shake off the excess before flattening each cookie so that it doesn’t stick to the cookies.
6. Place a chocolate chunk in the middle of each cookie, pressing it down lightly into the cookie.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes.
8. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Store cookies in an sealed container at room temperature for 7 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes:

* It’s important to measure the flour correctly for these cookies. I use the “dip and sweep” method to measure my flour (fluff up the flour in the bin first, then scoop with your measuring cup and level it off with a knife or flat edge). I also measure my powdered sugar and cornstarch this way.
** When whipping the dough, be sure to keep whipping until the dough has come together into a ball and is light and fluffy. It will be crumbly at first but will be smooth after whipping it for 2-3 minutes in a stand mixer or food processor, or 4-5 minutes with an electric mixer alternatively.

If you want to win an awesome gift basket to pair with this dessert, visit our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sayvee) or Instagram (@sayveeonline) for our Christmas Giveaway posts. You could win a variety of local brews, chocolate, and even our CEO’s closely guarded eggnog recipe (please don’t tell him, we already maxed out the company credit card purchasing heist supplies). All you have to do is tag two other friends in the comments of either post. Good luck!