The goal of TWD was to bake through the entire book and of course to try new recipes and have a lot of fun on the way! I joined late so there are about 23 recipes to catch up for, but I would still like to go back and complete older TWDs from the beginning. I can't say I was overly excited when I saw that I would have to make shortbread, but after those scones I was sure I wouldn't be disappointed. As usual, the first thing I noticed was the high amount of butter. Even though I wanted to stick to the recipe, 2 sticks of butter for just 1 1/2 cups of flour seemed a little too much so I reduced it to 1.5 sticks. As they were baking, I was starting to see the beautifully cut squares slowly melt into a puddle. Most of the cookies spread so much that they had spiky edges except for the 3 up at the top that best retained their shape.
My cookies didn't end up looking pale as they should have, but I think it worked out better that way. The carmelization of the brown sugar added a nice butterscotchy flavour and when combined with the ground up pecans made a flavourful and amazingly textured cookie. They were really crisp on the outside from all the spreading and slightly chewy in the center. The best part was probably how flaky they ended up being. I may not be a shortbread fan, but I will definitely try these again!
This recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours
How fun that you're completing some of the older TWD recipes - I can't wait to see them all!!
ReplyDeleteI DEFINITELY think that your cookies look better a little darker; and extra delicious!! :0)
I don't blame you for changing the butter, that sounds like quite a bit. I think the cookies look great all nice and brown. It adds a nice warmth to it, that says, "Yo dude I'm delicious"
ReplyDeleteOh and thanks for the comment, you're awesome too.
This is one that I have my eye on, too. I want to try them with browned butter. Good for you for cutting back on the butter-sometimes it just is soooo much! Your cookies look wonderful and didn't suffer in the least from the reduction.
ReplyDeleteBrown sugar and pecan shortbread cookies sound really good!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of brown sugar and pecans. These look quite delicious!
ReplyDeletei'm catching up on the ones i missed before i joined too. when i made these, i had to actually cut them into a square shape after they came out of the oven for them to look like squares. they spread A LOT. :)
ReplyDeleteI think your cookies turned out wonderful, including the color. I'd snatch a few through the computer if it would work.
ReplyDeleteThese look very good. I haven't gone back to check out the completed recipes, but I know I want too. Just about everything in the book sounds good to me. And I think it's great that you cut back the butter, too. I probably would be too nervous to do that!
ReplyDeleteThese cookies sound amazing! The flavors sound so yummy!
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