Moot Point

Whipped Shortbread

I don’t really think it relates to regular shortbread, other than in taste. These are so foolproof — it’s baking for people who don’t really bake. Additionally, they’re delicious. No matter what else we make and buy, these are always the first Christmas treats to disappear.

1 cup butter 1/2 cup icing sugar 1 1/2 cups flour (a few glace cherries, cut into quarters)

This is way easier with a stand mixer.

Cream together softened butter and icing sugar. Add the flour (I’d imagine it would be easiest to go gradually, but lord knows I’ve never thought of doing this until after I’d dumped in the whole shebang). Beat for 10 minutes, or if you’re me, until your cheap-o electric hand mixer overheats at the six-minute mark.

Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet, either greased, nonstick, or lined with parchment paper. (The latter works really well. I somehow only discovered parchment paper this year — I don’t know why, I’d seen it used for years including at the restaurant where I worked. In a food preparation capacity. But it never occured to me that I should just buy some.) I find sort of scraping using two spoons produces the best shape.

Top with glace cherry pieces if you wish. (I know glace cherries are creepy and that they must use all kinds of chemicals to make them green and that shade of red, but they both look festive and provide a chewy, sticky counterpoint to the buttery smoothness of the cookies.)

Bake in a 350 F oven for 10-12 minutes. You can tell they’re done when you can see brown around the edges at the bottom.

Let them cool totally before you try them. For some reason, if you eat these hot, they’re kind of cloying and overly buttery, but when they cool, they’re perfection.

Okay, so I was at work all day with my obvious new hair colour and no one said a word. Obviously they hate it.

Or they were distracted by my Bromwell High sweater.

To wit:

I was going to do a picture of me posing like she’s holding the baby, but with The Joy of Cooking, but it was too hard to hold the camera/get the angle right, so you get the unflattering bathroom self-portrait instead. Whatever, I gave you cookies!