I’ve done it. I’ve finally done it. I’ve created a cookie that my mom has deemed “Christmas-worthy”. This is no simple feat, people. Christmas is a huge deal in my house, and it is not easy to create a recipe which can rival any number of my grandma’s 50 time-tested and perfect varieties that she makes every year, but I think I managed!
I’ve always had issues with shortbread. They always come out lumpy on the top, or they stick to the working surface after I roll them out, or they stick to the cookie cutter when I’m stamping out shapes, but I read like 25 recipes and found some helpful tips and combined them all into one recipe that shockingly worked on the first try??? Most recipes call for cold butter, but that makes the cookies way too flaky for my taste, so I used whipped room temp, and it resulted in a way easier dough to work with and a much shorter, crumbly cookie in the end. This recipe also doesn’t call for an hour or two of chilling, which means the cookies can be in the oven like 5 minutes after you take all the ingredients out of the pantry, a little added bonus! Oh, and another thing: Even if you kinda burn these little guys, they’re still great somehow? If you check the oven and they’re browning (as opposed to goldening), just take them out and let them cool and then frost them - they’ll just be a little crispier, and they’ll have some added caramel notes that goes really well with the frosting.
The other best thing about this whole thing is that the royal icing recipe is literally the easiest thing you’ll ever encounter. You literally just put them all in a mixer and whip until it’s however runny or stiff you want it to be. But the best part is the orange zest. I gave these cookies to like 15 people, and the first thing everyone said when they brought one close to their mouths is how fragrant they were. So yeah, they smell awesome. But the orange also cuts the sugar so the royal icing isn’t overpowering, and you can really taste the butter in the cookie still.
Honestly, everyone: Christmas-Worthy.
Butter Count: 16 Tbsp
SHORTBREAD:
16 Tbsp butter, room temp
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 325F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Turn the mixer off. Add the powdered sugar. Slowly increase the speed to medium-high and beat until combined. Turn the mixer off.
Add half the flour. Slowly increase the speed to medium-high until it resembles a paste. Repeat with the rest of the flour and mix until the dough forms into a single mass. Use your hands to knead it into a ball if needed. Wrap half the dough in plastic and refrigerate it.
Flour a working surface and a rolling pin. Roll the un-refrigerated dough half to an even thickness, about half a centimeter. Use a flowered cookie cutter to cut as many shapes as you can, and transfer them to the parchment paper. You can roll the leftover dough into a ball and repeat the rolling/cutting process, but it may result in a slight lamination (layering) in the end product, so only do it if you don’t mind a flaky shortbread. Repeat with the refrigerated dough.
Bake about 10 minutes until the edges are very lightly golden but the cookies are fundamentally pale. Turn the oven off and use a wooden spoon to keep the door ajar. Leave the cookies in the oven between 30 minutes and an hour, until they are golden and a test cookie crumbles nicely when cut with a knife.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool fully.
ROYAL ICING:
170g powdered sugar
1 egg white, room temp
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 orange
Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment.
Beat on medium-high for about 6 minutes until soft peaks form.
Use a soup spoon to pour the icing onto the cookies, careful not to overflow (though I like the ones with too much icing).
Leave the cookies at room temp until the icing hardens.