Christmas Shortbread

The kitchen is quite a disaster.

The last few days have been grey and rainy, what better time to bake cookies. Shortbread is my favorite Christmas cookie. They are so fun because there are so many variations to try. This year I baked five different flavors. So, today I have been dipping and drizzling hundreds of little shortbread cookies. That is why the kitchen is a mess.

I usually use a basic recipe, then adjust it to my fancy :)

Basic Shortbread Recipe

1 Cup Butter
1/2-3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and mix until combined. I usually end up using my hands. If dough is too sticky ad a bit more flour.
On a well floured board roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters and place on ungreased cookie trays. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 -14 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Shortbread Recipe Variations

Now for the fun part! These are the varieties I made this year. There are many other possibilities.

1. Ginger Spice
Add: 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. cloves
2/4 tsp. ginger

Dip in melted white chocolate

2. Hazelnut
Add: 2 Tbsp. maple syrup (use the smaller amount of sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Cup finely chopped hazelnuts

Dip or drizzle with melted milk chocolate

3. Peppermint
Add: 1-2 tsp. peppermint extract

Dip in melted dark or white chocolate.

4. Coffee
Add: 2 Tbsp. instant coffee granules
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Dip or drizzle in dark chocolate.

5. Orange

Add: 1-2 tsp. orange extract

Dip in dark chocolate.

I cut each variety with a different cookie cutter. It is fun and makes it easier to tell them apart.

In case you were wondering which ones are which in the pictures.

Hearts; hazelnut
Stars; coffee
Trees; peppermint
Angels; orange
Gingerbread boys; ginger spice

Red Roses...

...to wear in my hair to the ball.

A Special Visit

On Wednesday afternoon we had a special visit with the Serven Clan. They are out here in California for a little while. It was fun to see them again and catch up a little.

Enjoying good food and fellowship around the table.



After lunch we walked around outside to see the animals and our many projects. After returning inside we had fun sharing music together.
Here are some of the Servens singing a song for us.


More visiting.

Etsy

There is something new over in the sidebar!!

Introducing our new Etsy shop; The Cricket's Song.
Right now we have some greeting cards and soap listed over there. I will be working on a new logo and adding more items soon.

Experimenting

A year ago I found a fascinating book called Wild Color. It is all about making dyes from plant materials. I have been wanting to try some of the ideas in there for a long time now. So, last week I experimented with making a dye from eucalyptus leaves. Here is a photo of the results. The rusty orange yarn in the foreground is what I dyed, the green yarn is one I bought. I thought the two colors looked pretty together. Isn't the orange an interesting color for eucalyptus leaves to make?

Sunday Sunset

We were driving home Sunday evening and I just had to stop to get a picture of this lovely sunset.