Shortbread

After my post about sugar I thought it would be a good idea to post a few recipes that I would consider slightly sweet. Remember these recipes are not exactly what I would call healthy but they are not cloying like most of the sweets you can buy in the store. I hope you enjoy this first recipe for a ginger shortbread. You will notice there is a good amount of butter in this recipe so it isn't exactly healthy so enjoy in moderation. If you do want to make the cookie slightly better for you substitute up to half the all purpose flour for whole wheat or white whole wheat flour.

Enjoy!

• 1 pound butter, unsalted, at room temperature
• 7 ounces granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, grated or finely minced (a microplane works great)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 20 ounces all purpose flour

Now if this cookie doesn't have enough ginger for you add 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (or more) depending on how gingertastic you want the cookie to be.

Procedure:
1. Using the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar together with your stand mixer on medium speed until the butter has lightened slightly, 3-4 minutes.
2. Stir in the ginger and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the salt, pepper, and flour, and on the slowest speed mix them into the butter until just incorporated.
4. You can now press this shortbread into a prepared baking pan (simply a pan sprayed well with non-stick spray) and bake now or you can wrap and chill the dough for 1-2 hours and then roll the dough out into a log and cut cookies out of it.
5. For baking the cookies preheat your oven to 350 F and bake until the shortbread is golden brown. Time is going to depend upon how you bake the cookies. Smaller cookies will bake faster than if you press the dough into a pan. For the traditional shortbread look dock the dough with a fork before baking. All this means is that you make marks in the dough with the prongs of a fork. Take out all your frustration on the unsuspecting shortbread.
6. No matter how you bake the shortbread check it after 8 minutes and then again every 2-4 minutes depending upon your oven. As an avid baker you should know how your oven tends to run (the oven in my house can run marathons for example).