melt in your mouth shortbreads
Dear Christmas,
I’m getting excited to see you again. What’s it been? A year? I thought I saw you in the grocery store around Halloween, but then I thought, “no way. Christmas wouldn’t show up before Halloween has a chance to do whatever the heck it does.” What does Halloween do? I’m guessing they don’t cover stuff like that in school anymore, because we had a lot of teenagers at our door this year, and most of them were wearing jeans and hoodies. I don’t think we should have to give candy to those little wankers, but I know that they’ll egg our house if we don’t. And yes, I totally get that kids’ brains are the size of acorns, but still.
Things have been very busy here at the Cat Farm, so I’m feeling a little behind. 2.0 and I vowed that we would be finished with our holiday shopping by the end of November. I fear this was ambitious, as we have done nothing to prepare for your arrival as of yet. Unless you count the endless conversations about how much food we plan to shove in our faces.
I’m going to do my best to ensure that Rosie Beaucoup doesn’t barf on your big day this year. And we’ll post a Poop Progress Report on the refrigerator for you-know-who as well. (Travel belly is bound to strike again.) Also, when I get back from visiting Pussycat, I’m going to decorate the Cat Farm so it looks like you hurled all over it. That’s right. Glitter galore. And I’m going to do lots of baking. Lots and lots of it.
Speaking of baking, I made these cookies for you. They are buttery and as light as air – just the way you like them. The secret is beating them lots and lots. Rosie Beaucoup taught me that. She says you have to beat the butter for ages. Then add an egg yolk and beat forever. Then throw some sugar in there and beat for an eternity, and finally, add some flour, which, of course, you beat until the end of time. They aren’t overly sweet, and they really do melt in your mouth. Light as air! I think they are perfect with tea, and they freeze well, so you can hide them from your family and eat them all by yourself if you like.
Anyhoo, if you could bring some happiness and good health to – well, you know – bring it to those who need it most, I’d really appreciate it. And you know about my little wish, right? If you could be so kind… Finally, and I’m just wondering here, have you ever noticed how when someone says something like, “but seriously though,” it wasn’t generally preceded by something funny? Is there anything you can do about that?
Can’t wait to see you,
xox movita
. . .
Want the recipe?
You can find the recipe for these cookies in this ebook:
wow they look perfect!
Awww I loved your little letter to Christmas. It made me feel all mushy inside. Not long now Beaucoup! It will be here!!! Banging down the door and demanding a perfect juicy turkey. Not one of them dry ones my lovely mum always makes.
Also, I LOVE shortbread. I think I love it more than I even love you! So I’ll be making them. Off to lift weights ready for the beating. Ciao dude!
Shortbreads are the bomb! And only four ingredients – that’s usually all I’ve got in the cupboards here! And when you eat stuff at Christmas, it doesn’t count. Negative calories. Because you’re SUPPOSED to eat lots. It’s law.
Can you tell me how to adjust this recipe for high altitude?
Gee, Cheri, I’m not sure! There are no leavening agents in the recipe (baking powder, baking soda), so that shouldn’t be a problem. And I don’t think there’s any need to reduce the sugar. I wonder if they would take a little longer to bake?
I’m sorry I can’t be of more assistance. If you try these, please let me know how they work out!
I love your recipes and always look forward to the next one. But I’ve never made any of them. This cookie recipe looks simple enough for me to try. But I have a question: what if I don’t have an electric beater? Can I hand beat the yolks to get the same consistency? Will it work?
Well, I think your arm would fall off, to be honest. If each addition takes five minutes of beating with a stand mixer, your poor arm would never keep up. Do you have a hand-held electric mixer? That might take a little longer than a stand mixer, but would work just the same. Alternatively, I’d borrow a mixer! And then give the lender a few cookies in return…
Thanks for visiting!!
Sadly, no hand-held device either or friend that’s willing to cook/bake. Maybe it’s time to invest in a beater. I’ve saved many if your recipes, maybe I’ll buy a beater and then start tasting your recipes.
Keep up the great work! If it’s ok with you, I’d like to add your blog to my blogroll.
That would be marvellous!!
These are perfection! What a beautiful cookie. Shortbread is always a winner.
Great shortbread and as always you crack me up.
its cute. your letter to christmas 😀 and I will try to make them this year upon the arrive of our christmas.. thanks a bunch 😀
Yumm! I love shortbread cookies!
They look beautiful and perfect! Love, love, love, shortbread. I miss being able to bake something up several times a week! I think we’re going on two and a half weeks or so of no appliances. (Yes, I’m whining.) They’re getting delivered tomorrow, but won’t be hooked up to gas until Monday. Just purposefully taunting me!
I agree with you about Christmas. I had hoped to be all done by the end of November but today was my maiden voyage out into the Christmas shopping world. Slow it down, please!
Only one more sleep until appliance heaven…
I will definitely be trying these!!! We made your slow cooker beef stew the other day…you were right co-workers were envious!
Yay! I’m so glad I could help you to make your co-workers feel bad…
Baked perfectly! They look amazing. 🙂 Shortbread always reminds me of Christmas, so this post came at the perfect time!
Thanks, Ann!
Scrumptious, simply scrumptious!!! Incredibly fragile though – had to eat them all before they crumbled….did I beat them too much?!?!?!
I don’t think you can beat them too much – but I’ve been wrong before! Maybe if you made them thicker? Oh dear, neighbour. I hate to think of you suffering with a belly full of shortbreads…
They were lovely regardless of their fragileness (is that a word?), melt in your mouth buttery goodness. Everything is better with butter (and bacon!).
I just found your blog via this recipe post on Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen site. Shortbread cookies are my absolute favorite, and not just at Christmas time! I will be making a test batch of these this weekend, but I am wondering if you use salted or unsalted butter in your recipe? So happy to have found your blog! It’s on my favorites list now!
Yay! Always glad to have a new friend! I use unsalted butter, but I have a friend who only uses salted. So, I think you could go either way. My mother, for example, made these for years with salted butter. Mine were just as tasty with the unsalted. So, buy whichever is on sale or whatever you find at the back of your fridge!
That last paragraph of your letter got me all mushy. Hope your little wish comes true.
Or came true. I just realized this was written in 2011. Sheepish grin.
You dont specify powdered confectioners sugar or granular i used standard granular will this screw up or is this what u meant?
Use regular sugar!
Great i used regular granular sugar they were fine. Powdered sugar may be quite melt in your mouth as well since most shortbread is made with powdered sugar. Good recipe thanks
I agree – I was thinking I should try them with confectioner’s sugar at some point! I’ll have to experiment… more test cookies to eat!
Thank you for this recipe!!! I just made these yesterday morning for a New Year’s open house we were going to and they were perfect! They were tender and flakey with just the right amount of sweetness, and they really do melt in your mouth just like my favorite bakery cookie. I was so proud of them that I made everyone who stopped by the desserts try one lol. This is the second recipe that I tried from your blog and both have been huge hits. The other is the banana bread which I always bake as muffins. They are my son’s favorite muffin and the only way he’ll eat bananas =)
Lisa, thanks so much for stopping by to leave this comment! Totally made my day! I’m so glad you liked the recipe(s) – they’re two of my favourites as well…
could you roll this out to make cutouts?
Hi, Michelle – no, you couldn’t. They are a shortbread – not a sugar cookie – it’s softer (thus the melt-in-your-mouthness) and they wouldn’t hold a clean shape. If you go to a site like Bake at 350, you’ll find some great recipes for cut-out cookies. Good luck!
I just made these & they are beautiful! I made them a bit bigger & cooked them a bit longer & they are perfect! Thank you!
This is wonderful to hear! So glad yo liked them…
Comments on this post are now closed as it was published in November 2011. Happy baking!