Happy March and welcome to the THIRD MONTH of the baking challenge!!! I’ve picked a few recipes this month that are VERY on-brand, and I really hope you enjoy them!
Kicking things off this month, I wanted something pretty simple, and this recipe called to me! Few ingredients, not much prep time, and a slow bake delivers this soft, favor-filled shortbread.
You can find the video HERE and the recipe on KA’s site HERE
I went with Bailey’s for my recipe, and used WAY more than the recipe called for, but my dough was rather dry, so I needed to add something to get it to the proper consistency. The results were, in my opinion, a total win! This isn’t an over-the-top sweet treat. Serve it with some fresh fruit and cream, have some Irish coffee, crumble over some mint ice cream even! YOU WILL NEED RICE FLOUR! But don’t panic, you can easily make your own using a blender or food processor. I used my grain mill attachment for my kitchenaid mixer. It’s a silly thing to have, but I’ve been toying with the idea of growing corn and grinding my own cornmeal. Also, if I do go gluten free, then there will be A LOT of rice flour in my future.
Let’s get into the recipe!
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Ingredients
16 tablespoons (227g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (106g) light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla, or 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey
2 cups (240g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (71g) white rice flour
Directions
- Lightly grease two 8˝ round pans, or lightly grease and flour a shortbread mold. (I used cooking spray for one, and vegetable shortening/flour for the other. The sprayed pan stuck.)
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the sugar, salt, and whiskey (or vanilla) until smooth. Mix in the flour and rice flour.
- Divide the dough in half (each half will weigh about 11 ounces). Form each half into a 7˝ disk, then wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Unwrap the dough and press it into the prepared pans (the mold uses half of the dough at a time). Prick the dough all over with a fork to prevent it from puffing.
- Bake for 32 to 38 minutes, until the shortbread is golden brown. Check at 18 minutes; if the shortbread is puffing up, use a spatula to press the dough down. Continue to bake until golden.
- Remove the shortbread from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes, then loosen the edges before turning over onto a cutting board. Tap the bottom of the pan to release the shortbread.
- Cut each round into eight wedges using a serrated knife.
- Store shortbread, well wrapped, for up to a week; freeze for longer storage. The flavor improves as the shortbread ages.
That’s it! It really is that simple!