Easy Tricky Cherry Almond Shortbread
You know one. You might be one: A person who just doesn’t get the whole shortbread thing.
I walk a fine line there myself.
I love my mom’s: she pipes it into charming wreathes with a cookie press I am far too uncoordinated to master (or too lazy to try?) I know a few others who produce a tasty cookie, But many shortbread recipes leave me cold. Too dry, not sweet enough – sorry, I am picky.
This is my family’s favourite shortbread recipe. Brown-sugar sweet, and with bits of marashino cherry adding moisture and interest. The recipe is dead easy and a little tricky all at the same time. Intrigued?
The tricky bit comes in getting the cherries distributed in the dough without turning your dough pink. Then, you have to pack the dough into saran-wrapped cylinders to chill in the fridge, again without de-juicing the cherries. After that, its just slice and bake.
Chopped frozen cherries get mixed in last.
Having a Kitchen Aid mixer helps a lot. I used to make this by hand and could never get the dough sufficiently well-mixed. My strategy this year was to drain and chop my cherries, then freeze them in a single layer on a sheet of parchment.
They came straight out of the freezer and into the mixer with the toasted nuts. With Saran wrap sheets waiting, those cherries were mixed in, wrapped up and into the fridge in moments, with very little pink leakage.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup marashino cherries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup blanched silvered almonds, lightly toasted and cooled.
METHOD
Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar gradually, then flour gradually.
A drop of almond extract would be optional at this point.
Fling in the toasted nuts and chopped (frozen) marashinos.
Remove half of dough to a sheet of saran, form into a fairly uniform log, pressing quite tightly, then roll up in the food wrap. On a hard surface and using hands, roll log dough back and forth a few times to make it as round as possible and compact the dough a little more. Then pop it in the fridge overnight or for up to a week. Repeat with other half of dough.
When chilled, unwrap and slice with sharp knife into quarter-inch slices and place on parchment lined tray.
Bake 12- 15 minutes at only 325 degrees and high in oven. Remove from oven when edges have begun to brown. Cool on sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire rack. Makes 4 dozen.
