Memah's Almond Shortbread Cookies

Contributed by Meera Hyphenated, who says:

Okay, I finally got around to posting my grandmother's famous Almond Shortbread cookies... They look like ho-hum, basic shortbread---but something about them... maybe the almond flour, maybe the granulated sugar? I don't know. People have told me that they're the best shortbread cookies they have ever had.

Oven: about 400°F
Makes about… oh, enough to fill a big cookie jar.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• ½ c. granulated sugar•
• ¼ tsp. salt•
• 1 c. almond flour or very finely chopped almonds (you can get the flour at Trader Joe’s) (My grandmother’s recipe calls for ground blanched almonds, but I like the flecks of brown in the cookies. Blanching is too much trouble, and pre-blanched ones are too expensive!)•
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract•
• ¼ tsp. almond extract•
• 4 c. all-purpose flour (My grandmother’s recipe called for a sifter-full of flour, which I gauged to be about 4 cups, but use your best judgment. If you use too much, the cookies will be too dry and tough, but if you don’t use enough, the cookies will melt instead of harden.)•
• Granulated sugar for rolling and storing the cookies

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the salt, almond flour and extracts.
3. With the mixer, add the flour gradually, until the dough is very stiff.
4. On a floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/3 inch thick (between ¼” and ½”).
5. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into long strips to make squares and rectangles, about 1” x 1” or maybe bigger. (My innovation is to make parallelograms!)
6. Place the cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet (I use a Silpat with great success). They don't rise, so they can be placed pretty close together.
7. Bake in a hot oven (400°F to 425°F) for about 10-12 minutes, until barely golden brown. (Keep an eye on them; they get overdone quite easily.)
8. While the cookies are hot, roll them in white granulated sugar (not confectioners’ sugar!).
9. Cool on wire racks. When the cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container, with more sugar sprinkled on top each layer, for added protection (and so more sticks to the cookies!) They’re often better the day after you make them—don’t ask me why. I haven’t tried freezing them, because they never last long enough for me to try!

Basic Glaze

Contributed by Meera Hyphenated

Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 5-6 tsp. Lemon juice, orange juice, or milk

Mix sugar and liquid in small bowl, adding just enough liquid to make spreadable or pourable glaze. Use immediately or cover with sheet of plastic wrap directly on surface of glaze to keep it from hardening.

Rolled Butter Cookies

Contributed by Meera Hyphenated

Ingredients:

• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup superfine sugar, or granulated sugar processed in a food processor for 30 seconds
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface

1. Either by hand or with electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Add yolk, beat well, then add whole egg and vanilla; continue beating until will incorporated. Add flour; beat at low speed until flour is just mixed in. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. (Can be refrigerated up to 2 days or double-wrapped and frozen 1 month.)
2. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 365°F. Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and cut in half. Return unused portion of dough to refrigerator.
3. Lightly flour work surface; roll dough to 1/8-in. thick, using thin metal spatula to loosen dough. Sprinkle surface lightly with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.
4. Cut or form dough into desired shape. Place dough shapes ½-inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake, reversing cookie sheets (from top to bottom and back to front) halfway through baking time, until evenly golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
5. Use thin-bladed spatula to immediately transfer cookies to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. Repeat rolling, cutting, and baking remaining dough. Decorate cooled cookies, if desired, and transfer to airtight container. Can be stored up to 3 weeks.