Solstice Shortbread

Submitted by dojemi

"This recipe is courtesy of King Arthur Flour. As stated on the site......."In ancient times, Scotsmen marked the winter solstice — the first day of winter — with bonfires, entreating the sun to return over the course of the year's longest night. From this tradition was born first a round cake, notched on the side to represent the sun's rays; and then today's familiar wedge-shaped shortbread.""

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 2 dozen wedges

ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (see note*)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 2 1⁄3 cups king arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2⁄3 cup crystallized ginger

directions

1. 1) Preheat the oven to 325°F Lightly grease two 9" round cake pans, or two 8" or 9" stoneware shortbread pans, or a combination.
2. 2) Combine the butter, salt, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl, and beat till smooth.
3. 3) Place 1 cup of the flour in a food processor with the crystallized ginger. Process until the ginger is finely minced; this may take up to 1 minute.
4. 4) Add this mixture, with the remaining 1 1/3 cups flour, to the butter-sugar mixture. Beat until well combined.
5. 5) Divide the dough in half, and press half into each pan, smoothing the surface with your fingers or a pastry roller.
6. 6) Prick the dough all over with a fork; this will prevent it from ballooning up or developing air bubbles as it bakes.
7. 7) Bake the shortbread till it's golden brown all over, and a bit browner around the edges, about 35 minutes. Remove it from the oven.
8. 8) Loosen the edges of the shortbread from the pan, using a table knife or heatproof nylon spatula. Wait just a minute or two, then turn the shortbread out of the pan onto a piece of parchment or a clean work surface.
9. 9) Use a bench knife, a knife, or (easiest) a rolling pizza cutter to cut each round into 12 wedges. Do this immediately, while the shortbread is still warm. If you wait, it'll be difficult to cut.
10. 10) Transfer the wedges to a rack to cool.
11. NOTE*: One reviewer suggested 'browning the butter' first.

Reviews

[Marysdottir]

Yummy! Exactly what I was looking for. This is very flaky and rich with just enough bite from the ginger. Next time I will try browning the butter but, since I'd made another brown butter shortbread this year, it seemed overkill. I used the moist Australian candied ginger and it chopped really easily with the flour in about 15 seconds. Baked for 35 minutes in glass pie plates and it was cooked to golden. UPDATED: This time I browned the butter and the shortbread was even better. This stuff is gold. It is quite fragile though. As can be seen in the photo, I probably should have pressed it even more firmly into the pan as it crumbled a little as I cut it. But who cares? It was heaven to eat.