Vanilla Shortbread

by Tracy Kadonoff, Award Winning Pastry Chef

INGREDIENTS:

• 340 g (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 100 g (1/2 cup) super fine white sugar

• 2 tsp pure vanilla, dark

• 2 tsp cold water

• 400 g (2+2/3rd cups) Lemonade retail flour blend

• 120 g (3/4) cup white rice flour

• 1/4 tsp salt(makes aprox 4 dozen)

PREP:

Mix butter in electric mixer with paddle attachment at low speed until no lumps—do not whip fluffy as this will make cookies too airy and fragile. Add vanilla and water and mix together.

Gradually add superfine sugar and continue mixing at low speed until incorporated but not fluffy. Measure all dry ingredients together and whisk by hand to incorporate.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter/ sugar mixture and continue mixing until it is a dough. Do not over-mix. Roll dough between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1 cm thick. Fully chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

BAKE:

Pre-heat oven to 160ºC (325ºF). Peel away top layer of parchment to loosen from dough, place this parchment back in place and flip over dough. Repeat peeling parchment off of dough.

Now cut into desired shapes and place onto clean parchment on baking sheet with 1-inch spacing. Bake cookies at 160ºC (325ºF) for 20 minutes, turn tray and bake for another 5-10 minutes until golden brown on edges. Cookies keep best in the fridge, as they are firmer and will not crumble. Enjoy!

Recommended: Weighing ingredients will result in a more consistent cookie.

Tips: If dough is too dry, add just a little bit of water (there is sometimes a variance in moisture content in butter), cookies will keep in fridge in an airtight container for 1 month. Freeze uncooked dough for a few months and bake off cookies as desired.