There are some Christmas traditions that would leave me pouting and stomping my feet like a two year old if I didn’t get to enjoy. That doesn’t paint a very nice picture of me, does it? Truth is I probably wouldn’t actually throw a temper tantrum, but I would want to.
My mother, sister and I sit in a circle by the side of the decorated tree, Baileys with a little coffee in hand. My nephew now joins us, no Baileys or coffee for him, not for many years yet. We take turns unwrapping one small gift from our stockings, passing it around and admiring it. At some point our coffee cups are replaced by champagne flutes. The whole process takes us hours, mostly because we are chatting and laughing so much.
Between sips of Bailey’s and coffee and ripping the wrapping off little presents, there is always room for some Christmas baking.
I’ve never had shortbread as good as my mother’s. Since I was given the recipe a few year’s back I’ve been told, “I’ve never had shortbread as good as yours before.” I don’t mean to brag … but really, it’s that good. It quite literally melts in your mouth. That’s not a figure of speech, it disintegrate into buttery goodness on your tongue.
The trick is to beat it for longer than you ever think any cookie dough needs to be beaten. Pull a little Mohammed Ali action and KO that cookie dough.
- 2 cups butter, very soft
- 1 cup icing sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Pre heat oven to 350 degrees
- Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until very creamy
- Gradually beat in cornstarch and flour
- Beat until mixture is like whipped cream, about 10 minutes
- Drop by spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet Add coloured cherries or dried cranberries in centre of each cookie
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven before shortbread starts to brown
- Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack
- I dare you to try eating just one
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi i beated the mixture till it had a texture like that of whipped cream but when i baked it the cookes spread out and turned flat, nothing like the one in the picture.. Any ideas what went wrong?
Hey Claudia,
Did you follow the recipe was there something you changed? I’ve never had this happen to me and I’ve made these may times so I am a little stumped about what went wrong. Did you use butter or margarine? I only ever use butter and maybe if you switched it that might be the problem. If you didn’t make any changes I’m not really sure what happened. I really would try them again though. I hope you’re second batch turns out!!
Hmmm, mine went flat as well. They were tender and delicious but ya, totally flat. What altitude are you at? I’m essentially at sea level so I wonder if that would make a difference in some way…? It’s really too bad because like I said, soooo delicious.
Hi Lisa,
I’m really confused by that as well. I live at sea level so that can’t be it. I’ve also made them successfully at higher elevations too.
It’s a recipe that I’ve made over and over again and I’ve never had them fall so I’m really stumped. Did you beat the batter for a full 10 minutes? It feels like a LONG time and I always set my timer when I’m doing it.
Great recipe – the reason why the cookies would flatten out is the butter is too warm – throw the cookies in the fridge for 5 minutes before cooking and they will keep their shape!
Hi Linda,
Thank you so much for letting me know what was going on with some of the other’s cookies when they baked them. I didn’t know! I really appreciate it
I used this recipe to make rolled shortbread cookies and they turned out great! Mine didn’t go flat, but I’ve always been in the habit of refrigerating my shortbread cookies for about half an hour before I bake them so they don’t spread. For those that are having problems, try that out to see if it helps keep the shape
Hi Andrea,
Thank you so much for the feedback!
I’ve never had the problem that a few of the others have had but it is really great to know what went wrong
Followed the recipe exactly and mine also fell flat I even refrigerated them before hand also! Strange!!
I’m so sorry to hear that happened to you too. I really don’t know what to suggest since that has never happened to me before with these cookies, and I’ve made them many many times. I hope they were at least tasty even though they were flat