Directions: |
Directions: Preheat oven to 300º. Line 2 round 9" cake pans with parchment, and grease the parchment.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Add the flour. The mixture may seem a little dry at first; keep beating till it comes together. If it absolutely won't come together, dribble in up to 1 tablespoon of water, until it does. This is a stiff dough.
Divide the dough in half and press each half into one of the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with your fingers, or with a mini rolling pin.
use a fork to prick the dough all over; this allow any steam to escape and prevents the shortbread from bubbling as it bakes. The dough can be pricked in a random pattern, but it looks nicer pricked with some kind of symmetry.
Bake the shortbread until it's a light golden brown across the top surface and a deeper golden brown around the edges, about 35 minutes.
using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut each round into 12 wedges. (Do this while the shortbread is still warm; if you wait until it's cool, it won't cut easily.). Transfer the shortbread wedges to a rack to cool.
Serve as is, or decorate. Here are a few suggestions:
Drizzle with melted caramel.
Spread with melted chocolate, and sprinkle with nuts.
Ste aside 2 shortbread cookies, and bread the remainder of the cookies with a thick layer of jam or preserves. Crumble the reserved cookies and sprinkle the crumbs lightly over the jam. |
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