Mostly Classic Shortbread
I love shortbread, growing up in family with strong Scottish heritage shortbread cookies were a special treat. This, Mostly Classic Shortbread, however is a little bit different and is still an evolving work in progress. I came up with an off-the-wall idea of how to incorporate shortbread cookies into the upcoming sabbath, Beltane. This was incredibly well timed with my mother gifting me bag of homegrown Saskatoon berries. If you don’t know what Saskatoons are I recommend checking them out, they are also known as Juneberry and Serviceberry!
My crazy idea was taking a fruit that aligned with the sabbath and through dehydration, granulation, and incorporation (I had to do three) transforming it into a natural fruit sugar. Have I ever done this before, nope, but that isn’t going to stop me. The sound of Saskatoon Shortbread cookies was just too temping. So, step 1 was making Saskatoon Sugar; check that out and follow along as I keep testing and improving.
Ultimately, this Mostly Classic Shortbread recipe is very traditional, it’s just changing up the sugar that adds a twist and makes it something different. To keep it completely traditional just use 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
Modifiers and substitutions will be at the bottom like always for anyone that needs to make adjustments. Possibilities include: Dairy-free, and low glucose
Mostly Classic Shortbread
The base is a traditional shortbread cookie, but we're giving it a small twist. In this version I created Saskatoon Sugar, for a natural fruit infused cookie without compromising the classic texture.
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Saskatoon Sugar
- ¼ cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 cup Butter (softened)
- ¼ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
Combine the softened butter and sugar, blending and smooth, light and fluffy. This can be by hand or with an electric mixer.
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt mixing thoroughly; this will be quite dry.
Dump the mixture into an ungreased 9×13 pan, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove the plastic wrap and set it aside, press the dough flat and even to ¼" thickness. I like to start by pressing it out with a short rolling pin and then finishing with my fingers to get the edges. Try not to overwork it, too much kneading or pounding will affect the texture.
Using a fork poke holes throughout the surface of the dough, this will help it bake evenly. Cover with the plastic wrap again and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
When there is 10 minutes left pre-heat the oven to [wprm-temperature value=”350″ unit=”F”]. Once the time has ended and the oven is fully pre-heated, bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and while the cookies are still warm using a sharp knife cut the cookies into long rectangles. Once down the middle length-wise for two long halves, and again in 1" sections.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan to finish on a cooling rack.
Ry’s Rating: 7/10
Note: The next time I make these I intent to use a full 1/2 cup of fruit sugar. This first batch is lovely, but the Saskatoon flavour is very subtle.
Modifiers and Substitutions
Dairy-Free: Made these with plant-based butter with no problems, I was pleasantly surprised!
Low Glucose: Stevia, I made the Saskatoon Sugar and used stevia as my sweetener in place of powdered sugar.
Cauldron Corner
- Dairy: Positivity, joy, health, accomplishments, higher energies, inspiration
- Saskatoon: Time, cycle, female reproductive health & pregnancy, memory, clarity
- Sugar: Enhance, banishing, break evil, money, love
- Wheat: Conception, rebirth, fertility, abundance, prosperity, Goddess
Sabbaths
There are plenty of ways to add sabbath aligned ingredients to your shortbread. Lemon, rosemary, lavender, mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the list goes on. My exploration into fruit sugars further the ability to create delicious shortbread that connects to your celebrations. Working with saskatoons for this batch of Mostly Classic Shortbread was an incredibly personal way to celebrate Beltane and the coming of spring.