The #1 Vacation Cookie My Mates and Household Request 12 months After 12 months

Each vacation season I give out cookie bins to my family and friends. Every field comprises 5 – 6 totally different cookies, and whereas it’s exhausting to whittle it all the way down to my favourite few, I virtually at all times embody a shortbread cookie. Shortbread is ideal for gifting, because it typically retains properly for a number of days.

I like to decorate my shortbread cookies up somewhat with darkish brown sugar and a glittery sugar-coated exterior. For the previous 5 years, I’ve included this shortbread in my bins. They’re my preferrred cookies: tender, with caramel notes from brown sugar, and are simply salty sufficient. They’re at all times successful—a lot in order that my family members have began asking for the recipe. Learn on for the strategies I exploit to make these cookies and for the complete recipe. 

The Key Strategies for Making the Finest Brown Sugar Shortbread

For shortbread that stays moister and brisker for longer, use brown sugar.

Shortbread is often made with simply butter, granulated sugar, flour, and salt. Whereas basic shortbread cookies are scrumptious, their simplicity additionally means they’re nice for riffs. In my recipe beneath, I swap granulated sugar for darkish brown sugar, which not solely provides a deep butterscotch taste, but additionally makes for a softer cookie. Brown sugar comprises molasses; the thick syrup is hygroscopic—which implies it attracts moisture to itself—so these cookies keep recent and moist for days.

Incorporate baking soda. This recipe comprises baking soda, which isn’t usually present in shortbread. Right here, baking soda reacts with the mildly acidic brown sugar, giving the cookies a refined carry for a shortbread that’s lighter and extra tender than the common shortbread. 

Roll the logs tightly. The most effective factor concerning the slice-and-bake technique is that it doesn’t require any particular gear for shaping the cookies. There’s no want for a rolling pin or cookie scoop—you simply must type the dough into two logs, wrap every tightly in plastic wrap, then refrigerate it. 

Slice-and-bake cookies can find yourself crumbly if the logs aren’t shaped appropriately, although, so the important thing to stopping your cookies from falling aside is to make sure the dough is rolled as densely as attainable earlier than you wrap it tightly in plastic. For the roundest attainable cookies, roll every log of dough back-and-forth to even out the form as soon as they’re wrapped—the plastic will assist maintain every part in place. 

(If you would like really uniform, completely spherical cookies, it’s also possible to roll the dough out between two items of parchment till it’s a half-inch thick, chill it till agency, then use a spherical cutter to stamp out as many cookies as attainable. It’s a way many pastry cooks use when making shortbread cookies, however because it’s barely fussier, it’s not one I exploit in my recipe.)

Add some sparkle and crunch with sugar. As soon as the dough has chilled, all that’s left to do is slice the logs into half-inch thick rounds with a pointy knife, coat the cookies in sugar, and bake. Whereas it is not important, coating the cookies in granulated sugar earlier than baking provides them a glittery, crispy exterior. I additionally wish to sprinkle every cookie with a pinch of flaky salt for somewhat pop of savoriness.  

The fantastic thing about these little cookies lies of their simplicity. They’re straightforward to make, require only some components, and have a wealthy, butterscotch-y taste. Whereas these cookies are a staple of my vacation cookie bins, they’re actually fantastic any time of yr—whether or not as a present or to get pleasure from your self together with a sizzling cup of espresso or tea.

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