Barefoot Contessa's Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies can be a great snack or an elegant dessert depending if you use cookie cutters or not. This recipe is very straight forward and with a little tweaking you can make this recipe your own! The original recipe is Barefoot Contessa and can be found here.

The only change I make with the recipe is I use whatever nuts I have on hand (hazelnut, pecans, walnuts, etc) and I use 2 tsp of vanilla extract instead of 1 since I omit the almond extract. The pecan version tastes like pecan sandies!

In my mixer I combine the butter and sugar, then vanilla extracts. In a separate bowl I mix the flour and the salt.

Then I add the flour mix into the mixer. Add the nuts and mix until it starts to come together. I find it is a little crumbly at this stage, like coarse sand size pieces.

If I am going to roll out shapes I shape the dough into flat disk in the plastic wrap. If I want to slice them I will shape it into logs into the plastic wrap. I let the dough chill about 30 minutes. After I slice or roll the dough out to make shapes.

Sometimes it is still a little crumbly but squeeze the plastic wrap it will pack together better.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn light brown. Let them cool, they are one of the few cookies that don't taste as good when they are warm.

This recipe makes a few dozen but largely it depends on how small or large the cookies. 

Shortbread Cookies

    3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature

    1 cup sugar

    2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 1/2 cups small diced pecans (or whatever nuts you have)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In mixer combine butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla extract. In another bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter/sugar mixture. Add the nuts and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and use a cookie cutter to shape. Or slice the log into 1/2 inch slices. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve.

Enjoy!

Candied Pecans

N. bought me a silpat mat!! What is a silpat mat, you ask? Basically its a reusable nonstick baking mat that can be used instead of parchment paper. Isn't he the best? I had to try it out and make him something. Since it was late and I was tired, I wanted to go with an easy recipe that didn't require needing to chill dough (shortbread was the other choice).

Seriously, this recipe is pretty much fool proof. It will be tasty no matter what. I wanted to half the recipe, but only successfully halved some of the ingredients... still came out good though!

I made this for the holidays last year, your house will smell amazing! If you wanted to half this recipe, it is easy. If you wanted to double the recipe, it is easy.

The original recipe calls for pecans, which are so good! However, I didn't have enough, so I used 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of pecans.

Whip an egg white and tbs of water until its frothy. Didn't half it, just used the whole thing.

Add nuts and coat in the egg white.

Add cinnamon (not halved), sugar (halved), and salt (halved).

Stir it all up. Because I didn't use all the nuts my mixture had some liquid in bottom of the bowl.

Put on a grease/parchment paper/silpat covered cookie sheet and bake at 250 for an hour. Stir them on the cookie sheet every 15 minutes.

(Note the pretty new mat!)

I'm impatient and I was tired, I took them out after 45 minutes.

I let them cool for a little bit and then put them into containers to store at room temperature.

These are tasty as a snack but also would be good on a salad!

Candied Pecans
Makes 1 lb

1 egg white
1 tbs water
1 lb pecans
1 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 250F. Prepare 1 baking sheet.
2. Whip 1 egg white and water until frothy. In separate bowl combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add nuts to egg white. Add dry ingredients. Stir until well coated.
4. Spread out on baking sheet
5. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.