Pink Ribbon Shortbread
These are probably the cutest shortbread cookies I have ever made - the combination of different colours of pink just make them so completely adorable. They would be great for a bridal shower or even a pink-themed wedding...!
Ingredients:
| 2 sticks (1 cup or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened | |
| ½ cup granulated sugar | |
| 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | |
| ½ teaspoon almond extract | |
| ½ teaspoon salt | |
| 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting | |
| Pink and/or red paste food coloring | |
| 1 large egg white | |
| 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate | |
| 1 tablespoon unsalted butter |
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Directions:
1. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar and continue to beat for another minute. Mix in extracts and salt. Reduce speed to low; slowly mix in flour until dough starts to come together (do not overmix and if you don't need all of the flour don't use it - the dough can be quite dry and difficult to pull together in certain climates!).
2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead just to bring together. Divide into 6 balls of various sizes. Knead varying amounts of pink or red food coloring into 5 of the balls to tint dough various shades of pink and leave 1 ball neutral.
3. Place each ball between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper; roll out to 5-inch squares. (Squares will be of varying thicknesses.) Trim edges of squares with a knife to make straight. Freeze squares on parchment paper on baking sheets 20 minutes.
4. Whisk egg white with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush egg wash over surface of 1 square. Top with another square; brush with egg wash. Continue stacking remaining squares, alternating colors and thicknesses, and brushing with egg wash between each layer. Let assembled block of dough stand until it reaches room temperature. Trim sides with a sharp knife to make straight.
5. Preheat oven to 325 F. Using a long sharp knife, slice block into ¼-inch-thick strips (you should have about 20 strips of dough). Cut each strip in half crosswise to make 40 (2 ½-inch-long) cookies. Transfer, striped side up, to baking sheets lined with parchment paper; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
6. Bake until edges turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
7. Melt chocolate in a pan over low heat with 1 tablespoon unsalted butter. Allow to cool for a few minutes then dip the ends of cookies into chocolate. Place on tray covered with parchment paper and refrigerate until serving.
After-Thoughts:
To be perfectly honest at first attempt these cookies were way more work than they were worth...but the more I look at them the more I like them. And as usual, the more time that passes from when I made them the less work it seems. But they are pretty...no?
recipe origin: Shortbread recipe by Martha Stewart
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