Holiday baking and food-gift making went into high gear last week. I have gone through quite a few pounds of flour, butter, and chocolate! In other words, I've been in a happy place and having a lot of fun.
Let's talk about shortbread cookies. They truly get their moment in the spotlight at Christmastime. A lot of people tell me that shortbread is their favorite cookie and for some reason, I'm always a little surprised. But each time I eat it, I can see why. So this year, while I was trying to decide on the items to make for my homemade food gifts, I decided shortbread had to be on the roster.
I think the beautiful thing about shortbread is it's delicious at its most basic, in its very essence of butter and vanilla, but it's also a great canvas for lots of flavorings and customizations. I've wanted to make an almond and orange version from Martha Stewart for some time so I went ahead and did it.
In this case, the sandy, melt-in-your-mouth, shortbread is wrapped up in nutty almond slices and the perfume of fresh orange zest. It's the kind of simple flavor that appeals to me when I'm looking for an alternative to chocolate. That said, I also made last year's chocolate chip shortbread, which was too delectable to forget! With two options, I had my chocolate-loving and maybe not-so-chocolate-loving friends covered.
This almond-orange shortbread dough a cinch to make. It's a slice and bake type of cookie so once you shape the dough into its log, store it in the freezer until you need it, and you have ready-to-bake cookies on standby. I love how shortbread/icebox cookies are not only delicious but so flexible; you can make the dough well in advance and bake it when you need it. Plus, they keep well for a long time stored in an airtight container, making it perfect for gift-giving. So come Christmastime, it's definitely shortbread for the win!
