A life-long love of shortbread cookies has meant many variations in my kitchen over the years but at Christmas time I always return to the simple recipe I loved as a child.
I have indeed had a life long love of shortbread cookies as the number of variations of this all time favourite on Rock Recipes can pay witness. I’ve often said that sometimes simple is best and that is particularly true in the case of shortbread cookies.
With their tender, crisp, crumbly texture and buttery sweet flavour, they need nothing more to make them totally satisfying, except maybe a cup of hot tea. I was quite partial to a tall glass of cold milk with these as a child and still am on occasion.
During the Holidays, all the women in our extended family and friends made shortbread cookies as part of their Christmas baking routine. Some kids gravitated to other more decadent cookies in the Christmas offerings but I always enjoyed eating around the bright red cherry or sometimes gumdrop at the center of a shortbread cookie and saving the sweet morsel in the middle as the final bite.
This recipe is a slight variation in method on Nanny Mildred Ralph’s recipe, who was my Uncle Bill’s Mom, and a great baker like so many Newfoundland women of her generation. I’ve added a little real vanilla to the dough for additional flavour and glacé cherries to the center instead of maraschinos as she did.
You can use whichever you like or substitute baking gums as I just mentioned. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without some Holiday Shortbread Cookies.
To Find Out All The Delicious Ingredients And The Step By Step Directions To Follow, Please Head On Over To The Next Page.
