Baked Sunday Mornings: Classic Shortbread with Fleur de Sel

I rarely make plain shortbread because I generally find it to be pretty boring. So I probably never would have tried the recipe for Classic Shortbread with Fleur de Sel from Baked Explorations, except for the fact that I'm baking along with Baked Sunday Mornings. One of the many benefits of being a part of the group is that it forces me to expand my baking horizons!

This recipe is pretty straightforward, although it requires rice flour, which is not a staple in my pantry. You beat cool butter, add sugar (I used powdered, because I didn't have superfine) and salt, mix in all-purpose flour and rice flour, and then incorporate egg yolks. You turn out the dough and knead it briefly until it's uniform, divide the dough into eight parts, and form each part into a disk, which you refrigerate for at least one hour.

Once the disks of dough are chilled, you roll them out, cut each one into six wedges, dock each piece with a fork, sprinkle on fleur de sel, and bake. I simply eyeballed it to divide the dough into eight parts; in the future, I would weigh out the portions to make sure they are equal, because having different-sized portions meant I ended up with different-sized disks of dough, and different-sized cookies at the end.

This shortbread is remarkably tender; the texture reminded me of Joanne Chang's shortbread (e.g., her rosemary shortbread and the shortbread crust of her raspberry crumb bars), which melts in your mouth. I know that traditional shortbread is supposed to basically just taste like butter, but I couldn't help thinking that I might have liked at least a touch of vanilla in these cookies. Also, I wish that I had not taken such a light hand with the fleur de sel; the salt is critical to giving the cookies a vibrant punch of flavor.

But don't get me wrong, the shortbread was delicious, and the fleur de sel combined with the wonderful texture made this shortbread special. As a bonus, I think the cookies tasted even better on the second and third day. I am a skeptic at heart, but those boys from Baked always know how to win me over.

Recipe: "Classic Shortbread with Fleur de Sel" from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.

Comments

I almost didn't make these too. But I felt I had to at least try them. And even though shortbread is not a favourite of mine, I did like these. Just wouldn't want to make them very often.
I too would like to try a different flavouring for these.
mike509 said…
They look picture perfect - I loved the salt factor - but anxious to try lemon/orange and even the chocolate dip!
Susan said…
I agree, they were better the next day. Super simple & delicous - who could ask for more?

Wishing you a wonderful 2013!
Unknown said…
Yours look great! They really were yummy weren't they?
Kris' Kitchen said…
Beautiful shortbread! Good to hear they get better with age since I hid mine away until New Year's Day.
Anonymous said…
Fabulous photo! I love your plate. :)
Oh your shortbread turned out beautifully! What great suggestions to add rosemary and use this as the base of a crust. Pretty pictures!
Elaine said…
Very pretty! I also want to try some of the variations, but I sure am enjoying these as is. I hope you have a great new year!
erinstar41 said…
Nice photo! Your cookies look great!
Chelly said…
Nice shortbread! Yup those boys won me over too...again!
Anonymous said…
I love your fork marks! My 6 year old son would say they look like little space ships!
Anonymous said…
I too have made a lot of things that I probably wouldn't have tried if it weren't Baked Sunday Mornings! It's been fun. I added a bit of vanilla to mine and really liked it. Lemon zest sounds like it would be great as well. You photos look beautiful!