First Christmas Treat!

I love this time of season because its full of warmth, laughter and baking :D. Its the one time in the year where baked treats really shine:D.Its the first year for me that I will be able to document and review all my seasonal treats.I think it will be great fun to share out my ideas and take a bite out of all the future foods.

Its my first Christmas treat of the month and it all started with a few people complaining there were no cookies around lol.So that was a good time to make some kind of Christmas cookie. For me, it had to be simple to make for time and a cookie that will impress.

Shortbread came to mine because in my opinion it would be the best one to start off with for the holidays. Its simple, gorgeous and has that melt in your mouth texture, what's not to love about that :P.I was excited to finally pick out a recipe because I  got to wear around my new Christmas apron lol :D. 

 

The recipe started out pretty simple with mixing dry ingredients and adding butter, but I do recommend cutting the butter previously to make it easier to work with.
It was new to me to add any sort of nut to shortbread because I have only made plain or chocolate chip before. The recipe called for chopped pecans, but I replaced it with sliced almonds, which were really easy to finely chop :D.

Previously, I was thinking to use whole almonds and chop them up,but I believe I would have been there for like a half hour chopping while probably cutting myself  in the process.So it was the best choice for me to use pre sliced almonds from a package.

 

I began to proceed and was surprised that the recipe did not include chilled dough, which most people that have made shortbread know that it usually chills to come together. However I was glad that it did not because then there was no waiting, which is a pain sometimes.

The dough still came together wonderfully without chilling,it was smooth and easy to work with. The dough easily rolled out with no tares; however I had some trouble getting it the right thickness and size for the recipe. I began to rethink to much and ended up re rolling it a few times, which probably was not good on the texture.

I eventually thought about it and went with my own  ideas on thickness/ length while cutting  any sized strips I wanted. Some of the cookies were thinner, smaller,wider or thicker.  I got about 30 cookies all together while the recipe was for 24.

I then place them in the oven and they baked quite nicely. Even when some over baked a little they still looked perfect fine maybe even more stable. I then let them cool down on the rack and began thinking what chocolate I  would want to use for drizzling.

The recipe called for milk chocolate, but I thought a darker chocolate would look a little fancier. So I microwaved about a 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate, be warned to use oven mitts if you attempt. Ouch! that was hot when I tried it first without it lol :).

Once the chocolate was at the right consistently I placed a plate under the rack and began to drizzle the cookies back and forth with a fork. I still had extra chocolate when I was done and I'm thinking of using it for something this weekend :).

Once the cookies were all done I placed them in the fridge to harden and they looked so detailed with the chocolate. Its sometimes really hard to capture the realistic detail of baked good with pictures ,but I really try with enough lighting.So hopefully I can really give some justice to this simple, but impressive cookies

Once I was done taking picture of the cookies I took a bite out of one and my childhood began flooding back of my mom baking shortbread for Christmas, especially with chocolate chips.
 

These were flaky,slight crunchy, sweet and melt in your mouth texture.It almost was like eating nothing, which is an odd way to describe something, but whoever eaten shortbread before knows what I mean lol :).Its everything you want in a shortbread cookie and I recommend to keep them refrigerated because there 10x better that way and the chocolate stay very harden :). 

I give two thumbs up out of three for this recipe. Only because I thought the measurement for the rectangle and strips was a little unrealistic for the amount of dough. I couldn't image 24 thick shortbread pieces in strips, but I could be wrong. I however love how I can change up the recipe to whatever I like and make it my own in away.

Stay tune for future Christmas baking! :D

I have a feeling there will be sometime this weekend :)

Do you  know that its Dutch Christmas for the kids this weekend(December 5th)

Does anyone celebrate this with their children?:D



Mr and Mrs. Santa Claus smooching in the back lol 



 Butter-Almond Shortbread Sticks

(Adapted From Butter-Pecan Shortbread Sticks Recipe, Magazine:Better Homes And Gardens,Christmas Cookies 1998 Version)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup butter ( there no substitution for this ingredient, hard margarine wont work either)

2 tbsp finely chopped almonds ( Already sliced almonds work best)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melt

1. In a large bowl mix flour and brown sugar together.
2. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs and comes together. ( Helps to cut butter in to smaller pieces before adding.)
3.Chop the sliced almonds finely and stir into mixture.
4. Add vanilla to mixture and stir.
5.Form into a ball and knead until smooth.
6.Roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle.( Whatever thickness you like)
7.Cut into strips.
8.Place 1 inch  apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 325F for 20 -25 until light golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool
10. Once cool, melt chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl for about 30 seconds-1 minute( bowl will be hot, use oven mitt)
11.Drizzle melted chocolate on cookies ( Place a large plate under the rack and proceed to drizzle)
12. Place in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate ( shortbread is best when chilled)