Spiced & Spiked Shortbread

It’s been quite some time since I’ve cooked anything with Scottish flair, so last night I decided to bake a batch of shortbread cookies.  Quick, easy, and inexpensive, these cookies are buttery and rich without being ridiculously sweet.  I cannot begin to explain why, but these cookies truly taste best when you eat them on a rainy or snowy day while curled up under a blanket and sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea!

Spiced & Spiked Shortbread

8 oz. butter, softened at room temperature

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup powdered sugar*

½ t. ground cardamom

¼ t. ground aniseseed

1 t. grated fresh ginger (you can substitute ½ t. ground ginger)

1 T. Scotch or Irish whiskey

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl (make sure to use a deep enough mixing bowl, otherwise your kitchen will end up looking like a scene from Scarface).  Using a mixer on low speed, beat until the butter has formed into tiny clumps and the ingredients have the consistency of moist sand. 

Pour mixture from bowl into a pie plate or a brownie pan.  Pat the mixture down (as shown) so that it is compressed, but not tightly packed.  It should be about a half-inch thick. 

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top begins to turn golden.  Next, remove from oven and let cool completely, then slice into desired shapes.

VARIATION:  Add ¼  c. chopped nuts or dried fruit to the butter/flour/sugar mixture. 

*  Commercial powdered sugar often contains cornstarch or other anti-caking agents which will affect the texture of the finished product.  This recipe turns out better if you make your own powdered sugar by placing ½ c. of regular white sugar in a blender or small coffee grinder and grinding until it reaches the consistency of commercial powdered sugar.