Marlis Shortbread Recipes

MARGIE'S SHORTBREAD OATMEAL COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Dissolve the baking soda in the water.
• Combine the oats, flour and brown sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the baking soda mixture and form dough into a ball. Either roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters or press dough into the bottom of one 9x13 inch baking pan.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes.

MILLIONAIRE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• For the shortbread layer: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a pastry brush, butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and coat with flour, tapping off excess.
• Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until the dough just comes together. Press the shortbread mixture into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
• For the cookie butter layer: In a 5-quart saucepan over moderately-low heat, combine the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, cookie butter and salt. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Continue stirring over the heat until the mixture becomes thick and amber in color, about 15 minutes. Pour the mixture over the cooked shortbread and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Cool to room temperature.
• For the chocolate topping: In a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate with the oil. Once the chocolate has melted, pour it over the cooled caramel layer. Cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes, and then put in the refrigerator to cool completely, allowing the chocolate to slightly harden but not too hard. Cut into 2-inch pieces. Garnish with flaky salt before serving.

MARTHA'S SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat an 8-inch ceramic shortbread mold with cooking spray; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar until well combined. Add flours and mix until just combined and a shaggy dough forms.
• Firmly press dough into mold in an even layer. Bake until edges just begin to turn golden, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Remove from oven; turn oven off. Let shortbread cool in mold 10 minutes.
• Invert a parchment-lined baking sheet onto back of mold. Carefully re-invert, turning mold onto sheet; lift off mold. Using a sharp knife, cut shortbread into wedges. Separate wedges, then return sheet to oven until shortbread is dry, at least 1 hour. Let cool completely.

CLASSIC SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sift together flour and salt into a medium bowl. Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add sugar gradually, beating between additions; continue to beat until mixture is very pale, about 2 minutes total. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture; beat until just combined.
• Press dough evenly into a parchment-lined 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Cut dough in eighths lengthwise, then quarters crosswise, making 32 rectangles. Evenly pierce all over with a skewer.
• Bake until shortbread is firm in center and golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer pan to a wire rack; immediately recut rectangles with a paring knife. Let shortbread cool completely in pan.

MILLIONAIRE'S SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square pan.
• Sift flour into a bowl. Rub in butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix in brown sugar and shape dough into a ball.
• Press dough into the prepared pan. Prick all over with a fork.
• Bake in the preheated oven until set and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, combine condensed milk, butter, and brown sugar in a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until caramel comes to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Pour caramel over cooled crust and refrigerate until firm to the touch, about 1 hour.
• Place chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes.
• Spread melted chocolate over cooled caramel. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens, about 15 minutes. Cut into bars.

MARBLED SHORTBREAD WITH GINGER AND TURMERIC

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger and baking powder.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, salt and orange zest until lightened and fluffy, about 3 minutes, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• In a small bowl, crack the egg and whisk to lightly break up the yolk. With the mixer running on low speed, stream the egg into the creamed butter base to combine. Stop and scrape once again, paying close attention to the bottom of the bowl where the batter likes to sit, then add the freshly grated ginger and mix again on low speed just to incorporate.
• Stop the mixer, scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula and add the flour mixture. Turn the mixer back to low speed to combine. When the mixture has just come together (about 30 seconds), remove the bowl from the mixer and clean off the beater with a spatula. Fold the mixture well to make sure there are no pockets of flour. Remove one quarter of the dough (about 8 ounces/225 grams) back to one of the bowls.
• Return the larger portion of dough to the mixer and add the cashews and white chocolate just until just incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds; transfer the dough to a cutting board or work surface.
• Transfer the quarter portion of dough to the mixer; add the orange juice and turmeric and mix until just incorporated, scraping with a rubber spatula as needed to combine mixture evenly. Remove the bowl from the mixer, fold over the dough a few times in the bowl, and place on your work surface.
• Roughly divide the larger piece of dough into 3 pieces and your smaller turmeric-stained piece in half. Starting and ending with the larger pieces, sandwich the turmeric dough in an alternating pattern. Roll this sandwiched cookie formation into a log just to round, then fold it in half over itself, twisting it slightly as you do, and roll the log out again. (If the dough feels too sticky, use a bench knife or bowl scraper to help you move the dough around or sparingly dust the log with flour.)
• Twist and fold the dough one more time (do not roll out). You should end up with a striated yellow-and-off-white mound of dough. Transfer to a parchment-lined 9-by-13-inch sturdy baking sheet with a 1-inch depth, and shape the dough into a 6-by-8-inch rectangle. Layer another piece of parchment over the dough, and use a rolling pin, roll back and forth over the edges of the pan to level and smooth the surface of the dough. (The pan edges support in creating an even thickness. If you do not have a pan with 1-inch depth, use a ruler to check your thickness.) Remove the parchment paper and use a bench knife or your hands to square off the edges slightly. No need to obsess, you'll trim later, cover once more with parchment and roll over with your pin to smooth the surface again.
• Leaving the parchment paper on top, transfer the dough on the pan to the freezer for 1 to 2 hours to chill until firm. (If you are chilling it overnight or longer, it's best to wrap the dough with plastic wrap.)
• When your dough is chilled, heat the oven to 300 degrees and move the racks to lower and upper middle positions.
• Remove the block of dough from your freezer. Trim one long side and the adjoining short side to make a right angle, discarding scrap. Orient the block like a portrait and, using a ruler, measure and mark at 2-inch intervals at the top and bottom of your block. Using these markings and the ruler for a straight edge score, cut the block into three long, 2-by-8-inch logs of dough. (If you're not baking the logs right away, you can wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 1 month.)
• Working with one log at a time, slice into 1/4-inch-thick cookies. Lay sliced cookies onto parchment-lined baking sheets with at least 1/2 inch in between. (They do not spread much during baking). Bake cookies until they appear set, are bright yellow on top and the white chocolate appears a deep golden on the bottom, 13 to 15 minutes total, rotating trays at 8 minutes to ensure even coloring.
• Remove trays from the oven and let cookies cool. (Transfer to a cooling rack if you'd like to speed this process up.) Repeat with remaining cookies, unless freezing for future use. Store cooled cookies in covered tins or other airtight containers for several weeks.

MARLI'S SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Sift flours& icing sugar together.
• Rub in butter using fingertips, until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Press together.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Knead gently.
• Roll out to 1cm thick.
• Either cut out shapes using cookie cutters or press into one round, decorate edges and cut into 8 equal portions, prick with a fork.
• Sprinkle with a little sugar if desired.
• Bake in a moderately slow oven for 15- 20 minutes or until golden.
• Stand for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.