Spiced Shortbread

This recipe was a little gift that Val, an Australian friend who loves cardamom, left the other day when she commented another recipe here. The shortbread turned out delicious and it was gone in a second. Adults and kids loved it. And just to think that I have never met Val, and perhaps never will, but I feel that I have known her for quite a while now.


For the shortbread you will need:

4 oz (125 g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp vanilla (I used maple flavor)
1 cup plain flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 Tbls sugar

1) In a bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter, then add ¼ cup sugar and the vanilla, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.

2) Into another bowl sift together the flour, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg, and add the mixture to the butter mixer, stirring until the dough is just combined.

3) Pat the dough evenly into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan, prick all over with a fork, and sprinkle with the 1 tbls. sugar. Bake in a preheated 350ºF/180ºC oven for 30 minutes, or until golden. While shortbread is still warm, cut it in the pan into 16 wedges and let cool completely in the pan.

What I did differently from Val:

I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the dough evenly, refrigerated for about 10 minutes too cool and used a cookie cutter, then I baked until golden and sprinkled confectioner's sugar on top.