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Currant-Ginger Shortbread

5.0(127)

Creaming butter correctly, keeping butter doughs cold, and starting with fresh, good-tasting butter are vital details that professionals take for granted, and home bakers often miss. For mixing and creaming, butter should be about 65 degrees: cold to the touch but warm enough to spread. Just three degrees warmer, at 68 degrees, it begins to melt.

by Julia Moskin

Open original recipe

Easy

Servings

About 4 dozen cookies.

Total time

45 min

Calories / serving

35 kcal

Ingredients (6)

serves

4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 piecesbutter
1/4 cup sugarsugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, more for flouring paperflour
Pinch of fine saltsalt
1/3 cup dried currants (see note)currant
1 packed tablespoon finely diced crystallized ginger.ginger

Instructions (4 steps)

01In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add flour, salt, currants and ginger, and mix until well blended, about 3 minutes. Gather dough into a ball and flatten slightly.
02Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper (or use nonstick baking mat). Place dough on paper or mat and roll out into a 10-inch square, an even 1/4-inch thick. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
03Position an oven rack in center of oven. Heat to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 10 1-inch-wide strips (if using mat, remove dough to a cutting surface first). Cut each strip into 1 1/2-inch-long rectangles. Gather and roll out scraps and cut out more cookies. (Triangles or cookie cutter shapes can be made as an alternative to rectangles.)

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Rich recipe — supports nutrition-aware planning.