Scottish Shortbread Cookie Wedges.

Okay. 

Now I'm confused.

A week or so ago I made stalked my dad while he made brown sugar shortbread. The recipe called it Scottish shortbread. 

But this recipe calls this Scottish shortbread. 

I promise you. They're completely different.

This is: 

Crispier. 

Without brown sugar. 

Pressed into springform pans. 

Given fancy edges.

And cut into sugar-sprinkles-covered cookie wedges. 

Basically a cookie pizza. And pizza's totally a dinner food (breakfast, if you're in college), so really, if you think about it, I've just covered your dinner plans for you. 

Plus it's December, so you can get away with this nonsense.

P.S. Don't freak out! The dough is supposed to look like this. 

Welcome to crumbletown. Please enjoy your stay.

P.S. Is anyone else watching Once Upon a Time? Because I'm pretty sure I just watched 7 episodes in one day and now I kind of want to be a descendent of a fairy tale princess.

Scottish Shortbread Cookie Wedges

Printable Recipe

1 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons cornstarch

Granulated sugar/festive sprinkles for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat butter, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until combined. Dough will be very crumbly.

Evenly press dough into two two 9-inch cake pans with removable rims (we used springform pans). Press edges of dough with fork tines to make a ridge pattern.  Then, with fork tines, pierce dough all over in parallel lines 1-inch apart. 

Bake until firm to touch and golden at edges, about 45 minutes. Sprinkle hot cookies with granulated sugar or sprinkles. Remove rims (be careful not to burn yourself!) and while hot, cut into 12 wedges.

Makes 24 shortbread wedges.

Source: Sunset Magazine, December 1998.

Brown Sugar Shortbread.

Let's just get this out of the way.

This recipe calls for a pound of butter. There. I said it.

Last Christmas I attempted to make elfin shortbread... basically butter, flour, sugar, and Christmas sprinkles pressed together into tiny little shortbread bites. Festive! What could go wrong? 

Um... everything? 

I made the dough, turned it onto the counter, patted it into a square, and went to cut it into tiny bite-size cookie squares... and the entire thing turned into crumbletown. Seriously, I could not get the dough to be dough long enough to cut it into respectable pieces. 

I pretty much swore off shortbread right then and there. Among other things.

This is what determination looks like.

My dad and I made brown sugar shortbread over the weekend. And by "my dad and I" I mean, my dad worked his shortbread magic while I hovered over his shoulder and snuck cookie dough watched (with a camera, obvs) (... did I really just say obvs? Let's pretend that didn't happen.). 

Don't get me wrong. I did things. Big important things. 

I measured out the brown sugar and poked at things with a fork. 

My dad said to "poke them evenly."

I sort of just jabbed at everything in sight. 

Let me tell you a few things about Scottish shortbread.

1. It's made of butter, brown sugar, and flour. That's it. Simple. No excuses. 

2. It tastes like butter, brown sugar, and flour. I think I ate six cookies piping hot off the baking sheet and tried to move the others around so my dad wouldn't notice. It didn't work, but it was so worth it, third degree burns and all.

P.S. Don't do that.

Thick, soft, and buttery. All good things happening here.  

3. Make them.

4. No, seriously.

5. Oh and dip them in chocolate too. You know. If you're the kind of person who lets cookies cool long enough to do that sort of thing. 

Brown Sugar Shortbread

Printable Recipe

1 pound butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4- 3/4 cup extra flour for kneading dough

Preheat oven to 325°F. 

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add 3 3/4 cups flour; mix well. 

Sprinkle counter with some of the extra flour and knead dough for five minutes, adding enough of the remaining flour to make a soft, non-sticky dough. 

Roll to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch-by-1 inch strips. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with fork. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Source: Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies & Bars, Fall 2007.

P.S. Is it just me or does this cookie look like California?

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies.

It's possible that these may be the very best cookies I have ever eaten. 

Don't let the name fool you; these cookies taste more like a buttery sugar cookie than shortbread- perfectly thin and crisp on the outside, light and soft on the inside, and the almond extract in the glaze and cookies makes them absolutely irresistible. 

I can't stop eating them. 

Literally. Even now.

It also doesn't hurt that they have a teaspoon of raspberry jam spooned into their centers. Sigh. So delicious. 

Make these today... and then make them again for your holiday parties... and possibly one more time, just for Christmas Eve or New Year's or lunch or because it's a Tuesday.

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

Printable Recipe

Cookies

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup raspberry jam

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 to 3 teaspoons water

In a large mixer bowl, combine sugar, butter, and almond extract. Beat at medium speed until creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add flour. Beat until well-mixed, about 2 to 3 minutes. Cover and chill dough at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. With thumb, make indentation in the center of each cookie (edges may slightly crack). Fill each indentation with about 1/4 teaspoon raspberry jam.

Bake for 14 to 18 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together all glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

Source: Sunset Magazine, December 1998

Shortbread Brownies.

Sometimes you just need to let your hair down.

For me, Sundays are all about spending the day unashamedly in pajamas, curled up with a book, which, most likely, has at least one vampire in it, and staking out the living room for some lazy movie-watching time with my family. Sundays are about scrambled eggs for dinner, avoiding the world and responsibility and laundry, and, can I just say it? Cutting a few corners in the kitchen.

Mmm. Corners.

But seriously? Sometimes you shouldn't need more than two bowls and five minutes to whisk up something sinful.

Sometimes you shouldn't have to run to the store for Dutch-processed cocoa and unsweetened chocolate.

Sometimes it's Sunday.

And that's a good enough reason for me.

Life is stressful enough. It doesn't get any simpler than these brownies.

Moist, rich double chocolate brownies poured over a buttery, flaky shortbread cookie crust, with extra chocolate chunks rebelliously thrown in.

Because I don't do chocolate chips. I want my chocolate to make a statement.

They're the perfect lazy day brownie for when you want to work as little as possible, preferably in your pajamas. And did I mention they're mind-blowingly delicious?

Shortbread Brownies

Printable Recipe

Shortbread Crust

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

Brownies

1 (20 ounce) box of Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownies mix (or any brownie mix lying around, or real brownies. From scratch. It's okay. Make me look even more lazy.)

1 egg

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix together flour, powdered sugar, and butter in a bowl until dough forms into a ball. A pastry cutter works best for this.

(Side note? If you accidently melt your butter instead of "softening" it, you'll end up with a soft, cakey shortbread crust. Apparently this is common knowledge, which I missed. It's okay. Mistakes make for cute cookies sometimes).

Press dough evenly into a lightly greased 13x9x2-inch pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. Set aside.

For brownies, prepare according to box, throw in extra chocolate if you're feeling scandalous, and pour evenly over the shortbread crust.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool thoroughly

Source: Barely adapted from Continental Mills.