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.
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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.
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.
.JPG)
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 too would like to try a different flavouring for these.
Wishing you a wonderful 2013!