Of course you know I had to do a traditional English “Biscuit” on a week where we are featuring cookies. But if you are new to my blog, or this may be one of your newer entries, you should know that I am completely and totally in love with England and the United Kingdom as a whole. You can see just how much so in my first entry to visiting England here on the travel end of things or visit my food page to see the English recipes we have done so far. But for not having much of a sweet tooth, Shortbread has been a favorite of mine for much of my adult life. When I was little, I remember my Parents having “Pecan Sandies” in the house quite often. I’d often look at them and think “How dull!”. No chocolate. No fun colors. No cute and quirky elf to promote them. Being an adult must be no fun at all.
Well, as we all know, those kind of cookies can be fun in their own way. Cause I don’t know about you but Butter is a lot of fun to me. Classic Shortbread has that perfect balance of butter, sugar and if made right, satisfyingly melts right in your mouth. We definitely picked up some classic Shortbread while in England. We got some for ourselves to bring home (which didn’t last long once it got across the pond), some for our relatives and a pack to keep in the car we rented for snacks. The car pack did not last long however. It was just too good!
I fell in love with a few different cookies over there. Oh, and if you aren’t aware or haven’t spent the endless amount of hours watching The Great British Baking Show like I have, the United Kingdom calls their cookies “Biscuits”. So if I refer to them as such in this entry, I’m not referring to the ones that you pour sausage gravy over or serve with jam and butter.
True, a Snickerdoodle isn’t always Christmasy. It’s a cookie that is popular year round. But honestly, the same could be said about Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies and many others that are usually made in many houses this time of year. So why not throw this richer, more decadent version of the Snickerdoodle to not only impress others, but treat yourself at the same time?
This recipe couldn’t be more simple and it’s even better that you are making it from scratch. One of the best parts of Shortbread is how simple it is in terms of ingredients but how good it turns out. All you need is room temperature butter, sugar, vanilla, flour and cinnamon. That’s it!
Cream together your butter and sugar until it’s smooth and combined. Then add in your cinnamon and bit by bit, add in your flour and vanilla.
Once it comes together, scoop it out of your mixer and on to a cold, clean, hard surface. That can be a cutting board, table top or something similar. Mold the down into a disk and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes at least.
Bring out of the fridge, unwrap and place on a clean, floured surface. Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out to be roughly 1/2 inch thick. Now at this point, usually you would use a circle or square cookie cutter for shortbread. However, you can actually use any kind of cutter you want. I stuck with circles myself to be more traditional for this recipe.
Another option here if you don’t have a rolling pin, are limited on space or mobility is that when you are finished mixing, you can shape the cookie dough into a cylinder like shape, chill it and slice it down in slices. You know, like those ones at the store that are known for being … well… less time consuming.
Once you have your shapes worked out, sprinkle them with some additional cinnamon and sugar and bake!
You want a slight brown on these but not a golden brown. Shortbread is traditionally a cookie that does not get golden brown.
I hope you find these to be buttery, indulgent and quintessentially British in their making and their taste. I fell in love with several other Biscuits that I had in England including a Oatmeal Crumble that I hope to replicate on here eventually. But the Shortbread is what stole my heart long ago.
So whether you are enjoying these with a spot of tea, a cup of hot chocolate, some Wassail, or what ever other accompaniment you like with your cookies, I hope it brings a little bit of the UK to you. And also a little bit of joy. We definitely need as much of that this year as we can get.
Snickerdoodle Shortbread Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- 3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla.
In a medium bowl, sift together the cinnamon, flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together.
Scoop out dough onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 15 minutes.
Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 2 inch circle cutter or preferred cutter of choice. Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.