Cranberry Shortbread for the Win

I saw this book in Williams Sonoma a while back, but managed to resist the temptation to take it home with me.

A few weeks ago it showed up in Marshalls and my resolve crumbled. (See what i did there?) With Christmas just days away, I had to have this book with its delicately frosted stars and beautiful candy cane pirouettes.  I finally got a chance to bake up a few recipes from it this weekend and I'm pretty happy with the results. I have yet to reproduce some of the more precisely decorated cookies, but the  simple shortbread has been quite a tasty success.
 
The original recipe called for dried cherries, but I substituted cranberries to Christmas it up. The results were surprising - it's been the sleeper hit in our house. Who knew shortbread could be so alluring? I bet the shortbread results to my jeans will be less so.

Dried Cranberry Shortbread
Adapted from Dried Cherry Shortbread from The Art of the Cookie by Shelly Kaldunski

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have a 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom ready
2.  Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 1/4 C of the sugar until light and fluffy. (about 2-3 minutes) Beating on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, beating until almost incorporated. Add the vanilla and dried cranberries and beat on low speed, just until the dough forms large clumps and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Press the dough evenly into the tart pan with your hands. Prick the entire surface of the tart with a fork at 1 inch intervals.

It looks like a lot of pricks, if you ask me

3.  Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake until the the center is lightly golden-brown - about 30-35 minutes. Immediately sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over the shortbread (I used vanilla sugar which was really tasty) and use a sharp chef's knife to cute the shortbread into squares. Let cool in the pan, about 30 minutes.
4.  Remove the cookies from the pan and store in an airtight container. Keeps up to 4 days.

This is the kind of picture you get after a long day of baking. Sorry. It's delicious, I promise.

- Jenn

Gingerbread Man Results!

We decorated the gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve. Everyone got into the act, including my mom, my sister-in-law, my two nieces, and even my brother. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have a picture of the cookie my brother frosted using his pioneering Good 'N Plenty techniques. Too bad for you.

Pretty cookies by my eight-year-old niece

  

I made one big bowl of frosting, left a portion white, and then colored a batch of red and a batch of green. Instead of pastry bags, we applied the icing with squeeze bottles to make it easier for the kids. I think bottles are the way to go, but I am still looking for the perfect frosting recipe for these cookies. The frosting needs to firm up, but I want it to have that buttery goodness that pairs so well with the gingerbread. I’ll have to keep looking and experimenting.

Can you guess the age of this decorator?

Everyone did a great job and the colorful little guys added a festive touch around the house for a several days…until I gobbled them all up.  

Not my best work, but I like the ballgown ladies

Abstract Impressionism from the four-year-old

This gingerbread recipe came from a newspaper clipping that my mom gave me about 12 years ago.  The author is Caryl Krueger.

1 cup molasses

½ cup butter

¼ cup milk

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ginger

Melt the molasses and butter together. (this works well in the microwave) and when the mixture is cool, add the remaining ingredients. With your hands, form the dough into two balls and then chill in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Roll out the chilled dough to about ¼ inch thickness on floured surface. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. Cool cookies completely on wire rack and then frost. You can dress up these cookies by adding goodies to the icing before it dries: red hots, gum drops, sanding sugar, dragees etc.

- Jenn

Merry Christmas Eve!

Cookie party on Monday was mostly a success, although a few lessons were learned. (Post coming soon!) I am going to blame the crazy rain for any of our less-than-stellar results, but untried recipes might have also had something to do with it. Also, we are definitely not Team Meringue Powder at the Strawberry Tree Cookery.

I have a bunch of things to do before this afternoon's Christmas Eve festivities, so this is just a quick post to send holiday wishes to our four loyal followers.

Blank canvases

I baked these gingerbread men and ladies (gingerpeople?) last night out of the same ingredients I have used to make a sturdy and pretty tasty gingerbread house in the past. We will decorate them today with my nieces using a buttercream frosting, red hots, and gumdrops. I should have some good pictures to share later.

I hope everyone has a merry and delicious Christmas!

- Jenn