Cranberry almond shortbread, a combination to die for

Last summer I visited the Maritimes, Canada for the first time. While there I did a lot of walking and noticed that Maritimers know how to bake! One week in particular in Saint John, New Brunswick, I did a lot of walking each day and each day I stopped a different bakery taking it upon myself to sample their baking. On one particular day I stopped in at this littler bakery and found this cookies. I don’t exactly recall what they were, whether they were a shortbread or a sugar cookie or just a plain butter cookie but they had cranberries in them and possibly some nuts as well. But what I do remember were the cranberries and how amazing they tasted! I’m not a big fan of cranberries so these were particularly memorable and left a lasting impression. Fast forward to the holiday season 2018 and the 12 days of shortbread and of course cranberries and nuts are going to be incorporated into one of the shortbread variations. Cranberry almond shortbread is the result.

Ingredients

1c flour
1/2 c cornstarch
1/2 c icing sugar
3/4 c butter
1/3 c – 1/2 c dried cranberries
1/3 c – 1/2 c slivered almonds

Directions

Cream together first four ingredients.
Combine in dried cranberries and slivered almonds until evenly distributed.
Roll into 1 inch balls.
Flatten with fork onto cookie sheet.
Chill in fridge for 30-60 minutes.
Heat oven to 300F.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.

Notes:

Again, I’m not a cook and I’m sure there are many techniques to baking that would make the above recipes tastier. In any case, I hope you enjoy the recipe and the results.

Some variations on the classic shortbread recipe involve adding in extra liquid. With those recipes I find you get a shortbread that spreads out more than usual. If you don’t want this then I suggest reducing the amount of butter a bit or increasing the dry ingredients a bit.

For the savory shortbreads I would suggest limiting the sugar content. I will keep working on the ratio of sweet to savory for those but the do smell wonderful when you take them out of the oven!

Tea Pairings:

Good question. Honestly, I think shortbread goes with anything! And tea goes with anything too! So, it’s a match made in heaven. I have tried different teas with each of the shortbread varieties with no particular pairing methodology behind the pairing. Each tea I have used can stand on its own.

Modifications:

OMG! There are so many modifications to the classic shortbread recipe which is from the Canada brand of corn starch. A picture of this shortbread recipe on the back of the Canada brand cornstarch box can be found in the figure below. I’m considering trying adding loose leaf tea leaves into the classic shortbread batter after it is creamed together. For example, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Lavendar, any herbal tea. Once I have gone through the 12 days of shortbread I will include a list of recipes of shortbread variations for the future such as caramel, toffee, skor, sea salt, white chocolate macadamian nut, carrot cake, pumpkin spice, cranberry and pistachio. I’m also considering more savory variations using other types of cheese like brie, havarti, smoked cheeses, maybe even some cream cheeses.

References:

17 Incredibly Perfect Tea and Biscuit Combinations, Emma Cooke, March 2016, buzzfeed.com, URL: https://www.buzzfeed.com/emmacooke24/digestives-and-breakfast-tea-is-life
The best tea and biscuit pairings, Niamh Ollerton, Nov 2016, lovefood.com, URL: https://www.lovefood.com/news/56428/tea-biscuit-pairings-breakfast-tea-chocolate-hobnob-earl-grey-ginger-nut

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Lani and Norm

I enjoy learning and sharing that knowledge.Sharing has been in many forms over the years, as a teaching assistant, university lecturer, Pilates instructor, math tutor and just sharing with friends and family.Throughout, summarizing what I have learnt in words has always been there and continues to through blog posts, articles, video and the ever growing forms of content out there!