Hungarian Shortbread

Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies are another one of my favorites. I tend to have a lot of favorite cookies if you haven't noticed but there's something about the simplicity of shortbread that I especially like. Other types of cookies rely on "stuff" to make them good such as chips, extracts, nuts, or glazes. Shortbread can stand on its own.

I've been making this Hungarian Shortbread recipe for a few years now and it's fairly simple, and makes a delicious cookie with or without the raspberry jam filling. A couple of weeks ago I made a batch of homemade raspberry jam from local raspberries I picked myself (well, with Mike's help) near our upstate home. While I was picking, I came upon a praying mantis among the raspberry bushes and snapped a picture of him with my IPhone. Just as I was about to take the photo, it turned its head and looked directly at me as if to say, "May I help you?"














The recipe requires freezing the dough for at least 30 minutes to 3 hours and then grating the frozen dough on a box grater. This helps the shortbread to have a light, crumbly texture. I bet it would be fun for kids to make (with proper supervision of course).

My oven is on the fritz so the top didn't brown as much as I would have liked. I've called Bill the repairman and he's scheduled for next week.

This recipe is based on one in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Special equipment needed: box grater and 10" springform pan
Any grater with large holes will do if you don't have a box grater. You may also use a 9" x 9" square baking pan, lined with foil and lightly greased with butter.


Hungarian Shortbread

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup raspberry jam

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter in a large bowl with a mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Turn mixer to medium and add sugar and egg yolks; mix until sugar is dissolved and mixture is light, about 4 minutes. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture and mix until dough just begins to come together, about 1 minute.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands into one lump. Divide the dough in half and form two balls. Wrap each in plastic and freeze at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.

Arrange an oven rack in the center of oven. Heat to 350 degrees. Grease a 10" springform pan with butter. Remove a ball of dough from the freezer, unwrap, and grate, using the large holes of a box grater, directly into prepared pan. Gently pat the grated dough to even it out. Spread jam evenly over the dough, leaving about a 1/2" border around the edge. Grate remaining dough on top of jam and pat gently until the surface is even. Bake until light golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, on a rack, before cutting into wedges and serving.

Cookie press rating: 3.75 cookies (out of 5)

Grated Dough (looks like cheese!)













Spreading the Jam

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

Valentine's Day is just a few days away and many of you are probably fretting over whether to buy flowers, chocolates or fine jewelry to celebrate this made-up holiday to fill the retail void between Christmas and Easter.

Ben Bernanke would probably not like me for saying this. But this year, why don't you just buy a card and make a nice home-cooked meal complete with a selection of home baked cookies? Skip trying to jump-start this dreadful economy and save some money for something important, like your cable bill.

I decided to make classic shortbread cookies to celebrate Valentine's Day. They're decadent and extra delicious when dipped in dark chocolate. I used Green & Black's organic dark chocolate with 85% cocoa content. The package reads "our darkest chocolate made with fine Trinitario cocoa beans." I'm not sure what a Trinitario cocoa bean is, but it sure sounds delicious. After dipping a bunch of cookies in chocolate I decided to channel my inner Jackson Pollock and drip chocolate as if I were creating a museum quality masterpiece.

This recipe is very easy to make. The most time-consuming part of making the cookies is chilling the dough before you roll it and again once the cookies are cut out.

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
3/4 sifted confectioners sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 t canola oil or vegetable shortening

In the bowl of a mixer cream butter, sugar and vanilla until combined. On slow speed, beat in flour and salt until combined. Split dough in two pieces and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and chill until firm (2 hours or overnight).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness. Use heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Transfer cookies to an ungreased baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 300 degrees with rack in center of oven. Bake until just beginning to brown around the edges, around 16 minutes. Check after 10 minutes since baking time varies due to thickness of cookies.

Let rest on pan for 1 or 2 minutes before removing cookies to a wire rack. Cool completely.

Melt chocolate in a heat proof bowl over simmering water. A double boiler works best. Stir in the oil. When chocolate has cooled slightly, dip 1/3 to 1/2 of each cookie into the chocolate. Transfer cookies to wax paper or parchment and freeze for 10 minutes until chocolate hardens.

Cookie Press Review

I like everything about these cookies. They look festive without being gaudy, are easy to make, and even easier to eat. The bittersweet chocolate really makes this cookie a standout. Share them with your sweetheart and guarantee yourself a Happy Valentine's Day!

Cookie press rating: 4 cookies (out of five)