Now, these are not the fanciest cookies on the holiday cookies tray. Actually, they really look like plain janes up against the cookies covered in icing or filled with dark chocolate but these are the cookies I will reach for every time I walk by. They are buttery & flaky with little bits of extra sweetness from the cherries. I also added a little clove, allspice & cinnamon to them to give them a bit of holiday spice.
Lori's shortbread was much healthier than mine as she uses demerara sugar and whole wheat pastry flour. I don't have either of those items in my pantry & the snow storm kept me from going to the store so I adapted the Scottish shortbread recipe from Joy of Cooking for these.
Pecan & Cherry Shortbread
10 oz (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground clove
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground cinnamon
3 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 c chopped tart dry cherries
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter powdered sugar, sugar, salt, clove , allspice and cinnamon on medium speed until light an fluffy. Stir in the flour. Knead in the pecans & cherries until the dough comes together & they are mixed through.
Line baking sheets with silicon pads or parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1 tablespoon (about 1/2 oz) balls. Place on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Press done with your hand to flatten. Bake for 18 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Cool on a rack.
Makes about 48 cookies
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8 Weeks of Cookies 2009
8 Weeks of Cookies 2008 (somehow I ended up with 9 weeks)
Apricot Foldover CookiesSwedish Peppernut CookiesPfeffernusse & Chocolate Covered Pfeffernusse
Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies
Sacher Bites
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© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski
kat... sometimes "plain jane" is the star of the show. I recently made your Peppermint-Chocolate Shortbread and they are absolutely delicious. So, I definitely can't wait to make a batch of these. Anything with pecans has to be good to an old southerner like myself.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this great count-down of cookies...
I love what you did with them. The spices with the cherries have to be so good! I'm honored to have provided inspiration. ;) And I agree with the above. Plain-Jane usually turn out to be darn-good.
ReplyDeleteit's funny--i don't recognize something as shortbread unless it's in bar-form. wow, i'm in a box, aren't i?! :)
ReplyDeletethese are great--the jewel-like cherries are a perfect addition.
These are very drool worthy. I jsut love shortbread cookies. Man I am trying my darndest to not get sucked into the cookie making machine that I want to be. Why am I resisting. Because I gain way too much weight when cookies and I meet up. But that doesnt mean I cant drool all over my keyboard looking at marvelous cookie creations! Okay I will stop talking, er, writing now.
ReplyDeleteok that sounds good to me. no need to kick this one up a notch.
ReplyDeleteLove shortbread and these sound wonderful. I am adding this cookie recipe to my must try list.
ReplyDelete