Have you noticed that working remotely requires a lot more cookies than working in the office?
Ingredients
½ cup softened butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup apricot or raspberry jam
Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb or finger, and fill the hole with preserves. The hole should not expose the cookie sheet!
Bake
Bake for 14 to 18 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
Results
Delicious and very quick to make! This was adapted from an AllRecipes version and some of those bakers recommended putting the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer for ten minutes before baking so they are rounder than flatter. I suspect that is the result of using all butter, which is essential for shortbread. Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element, which you can see in my photo. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy, however. If I double the recipe in the future, I might try using ¾ butter and ¼ margarine.
The original recipe called for almond extract instead of vanilla. I have never owned any almond extract but some will recall that it features prominently in the Beany Malone books. Over several books, it seems like she will never run out of almond extract:
Johnny offered to run up to Downey’s drugstore for more, but Beany said firmly, “Not you, I’ll go.” As though Johnny could buy a few candle holders. He’d come back with five dozen. Wasn’t Beany still using the pint bottle of almond extract he had bought over three years ago when a recipe had called for a few drops of almond extract?
