This past Christmas I got behind on my baking and preserving and did not manage to send cookies to several friends who have come to expect them. I felt bad about inflicting sugar and unsalted butter withdrawals upon them so I decided to send Valentines Day cookies instead.
I made my cornmeal almond cookies (filed under “cookies”) but added lemon rind and shaped them similarly to potato gnocchi rather than simple balls to distinguish them from my Christmas version. Then I tried to decide on a second cookie. Having recently tried my hand at butter making, I wanted a cookie that would showcase it: shortbread seemed the obvious choice.
I got it in my head that since my rosemary plant is in bloom I should make rosemary shortbread and a quick Google search provided a recipe from Gourmet magazine. It sounded pretty straight-forward and included a lot of very positive reviews, so I went for it. It resulted in one of the best shortbread I have ever made: delicate in texture, barely sweet, and buttery with the teasing flavor of the rosemary. This one is a keeper.
If you have an Indian or Asian market nearby, pick up some rice flour (or make your own by grinding rice to a powder in a coffee grinder) and use it in place of 25% of the flour; it makes the texture extra delicate. Cornstarch will do nearly as good as job if you prefer to use that since it is more easily found.
I rolled the dough out on parchment and used a heart-shaped cutter, but the dough can be divided in half and rolled into 2 9-inch rounds then scored into 8 wedges each for a more traditional shortbread. The full size shortbread will take about 25 minutes to bake.
2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 1/2 cups flour plus 1/2 cup cornstarch or rice flour)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons mild-flavored honey
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and rosemary.
Mix together butter, honey, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed, until creamy and well combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until dough resembles coarse meal with a few clumpy bits here and there. Gather dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until it just comes together. If the dough seems warmed by your hands, you can wrap it well in plastic and chill to firm it up.
Heat oven to 300 degrees.
Roll the dough out on parchment or waxed paper to about 3/8-inch thick. Using a knife or cookie cutter cut into desired shapes. Place on parchment-covered baking sheets and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until they are pale golden all over and the tops feel dry when lightly touched, about 20 minutes. Cool on racks and store in an airtight container.
This will yield about 2 dozen cookies if they are on the large size.
Yum. I cannot wait to make them.