Classic Shortbread for a Classy Lady

This month we read The Help at book club. Tracy, the classiest lady I know, picked Classic Shortbread. Somehow this fit with her pick as I could see the ladies eating these.

Enjoy!

Classic Shortbread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Sift together flour and salt into a bowl. Put butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture all at once; mix until just combined.
2. Preheat oven to 300F with rack in the upper third.
3. Using plastic wrap, press dough into a buttered 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. With plastic on dough, refrigerate 20 minutes. Remove plastic wrap. Cut out a round from the center using a 2 1/4 inch cookie cutter; discard. Put cutter back in center. Cut dough into eight wedges with a paring knife. Using a wooden skewer, prick all over at 1/4 inch intervals.
4. Bake until golden brown and firm in center about 1 hour. Transfer pan to wire rack. Recut shortbread into wedges; let cool completely in pan. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Note: I do not own the pan in the recipe. I simply used a round baking dish and lined it with parchment paper coated in butter. Not as fancy but just as yummy!

Peanut Brittle

My book club, Tequila Tuesday, read the book Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons when we first started over five years ago. The one character in the book whom I most identified with brought peanut brittle to the club every month. I continue this tradition with my own club as I think they like the brittle more than me:)

Here is the recipe I use and it is all made in the microwave:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanuts or other nuts just not dry roasted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a 2 quart microwaveable cooking dish, mix the sugar and corn syrup. Microwave for 3 minutes. Remove, stir in peanuts and microwave 3.5 minutes until light brown. Remove and stir in vanilla and butter and microwave for a minute. Remove and stir in baking soda until foamy and pour onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Cool and break into pieces which can be stored up to one month in a sealed container.

Note: This recipe can not be doubled. I tried and it was ugly. If you need it to set quickly, put it in the refrigerator to cool. It makes it honeycombed inside which my friends like. Also, the humidity plays with the texture so stick it in the fridge for sure when it is humid. To make clean up easier, use hot water immediately into the dish when done.

The Christmas Cookie Club

My book club celebrates the holiday season with a gift between friends. In years past, we have done an ornament swap, and this year we picked gifts for someone else in the club.

Linda, an excellent baker and chef, gave me Martha Stewart's Cookies. First, it tied to the book we read, The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman. This is about friends who swap cookies every holiday season. I love that idea! Second, Linda knows how much I love to bake and she and her daughter enjoy this book so they gave me a copy.

I decided that I would make each book club hostess cookies they chose from the book for their meeting. Yes I would still bring the peanut brittle I assured them!

The first one up was Rosie with the Blueberry Bonanza Bars. The granola is added on top of the cookie base and is cooked this way. You do not cook the granola twice.

1/2 cup silvered almonds, toasted
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cus blueberry jam

1. Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil, allowing a 2 inch over-hang and coat with cooking spray.
2. Process the almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add flour, confectioners sugar, baking powder and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Lightly beat egg, egg yolk and vanilla in a small bowl. With the processor running, add egg mixture; process until clumps form. Pat dough into bottom of dish; refrigerate until firm and cold about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until edges are golden about 25 minutes. Let cool 25 minutes.
5. Spread jam over crust; top with granola. Bake until jam is bubbling and granola topping is browned about 30 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Lift out and cut into 2 inch squares. Can be stored at room temperature up to a day or frozen up to a week.

Almond-coconut Granola
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2/3 cub slivered almonds
1/2 sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Melt butter with honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Add brown sugar; stir until dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in water. Stir together oats, almonds and coconut in large bowl. Pour butter over the mixture until combined. Evenly spread out the mixture on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring frequently until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on a sheet on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for two weeks.

Note: I did not have a food processor big enough to do the job. I processed the almonds but than threw them into my KitchenAid Standing Mixer. I used it to finish the dough.

Tequila Tuesdays Book Club

For the last five plus years, I have been in a book club with my friends. Most of us knew each other from Wednesday Mothers' Club. We rotate almost monthly through each other homes to talk about a book. While we often talk about the book, sometimes we just talk unless you are the husband or children of the hostess who will say we gaggle lke turkeys.

We have had our share of favorites and duds. I am probably the record holder of duds because of the type of books I choose. I decided I would pick only the classics. So far my picks have been:

The Catcher in the Rye
The Pearl
A Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Breakfast at Tiffany's
As I Lay Dying

I decided to pick the classics because I love going back to a book from my past. The last pick, As I Lay Dying, was my first Faulkner. The snippet review made it sound like National Lampoon's Vacation with a dead body. Well, no one could see how that review was appropriate. I could see that perspective when they are in the water trying to save the coffin instead of themselves. As a matter of fact, they try to save the coffin from a burning barn which is nuts.

However, the one thing I did take away from reading Faulkner is that literature is a work of art. We are all perfectly fine listening to a song a hundred times or admiring a photo, sculpture or painting and enjoy its beauty without being embarrased. However, if we need to read a book or article again, we feel ourselves foolish. Well, Faulkner convinced me that you need to read "art" a few times to get it and that is okay. Jessica clearly realizes this more than anyone else!

So, I will continue to pick a classic. Send suggestions!