Best Spiced Shortbread Cookies
These Best Spiced Shortbread Cookies use only three ingredients plus two flavorings. Now imagine these are sandwiched with a chocolate sour cream ganache.
Servings: 25 cookies
Calories: 153kcal
Ingredients
Shortbread Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter (225 grams)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (350 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams
- 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder or cinnamon
- Rind of one small orange
- Sanding Sugar or Swedish Pearl Sugar as needed
Sour Cream Ganache
- 3 ounces semisweet chocolate (85 grams)
- 3 ounces sour cream (85 grams)
Instructions
Shortbread Cookies
Mixer Methods - the butter needs to be softened
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the softened butter with the sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Beat until very light and fluffy. Add the flour, 5 spice or cinnamon and orange zest and mix until it comes together in a sold mass.
Processor Method - the butter needs to be cold for this version.
- Add the flour, 5 spice or cinnamon and orange zest to the bowl of a processor. Pulse several times to mix. Place the cold, cut up butter in a circle on top of the flour.
- Process until the butter is indistinguishable. Add the sugar and process until a ball forms. The dough may need to be re-distributed and processed again.
For Both Mixing Methods
- Divide the dough in half. Wrap the other half while working on this one. Roll between two sheets of wax paper to a thickness of about ¼" (see Cut Out Cookies Technique Using Wax paper. Cut the cookies out with a 2" cutter or your desired shape and size.
- Place the cookies, still on the waxed paper, on a baking sheet and freeze until hard. Remove the cookies with a pancake turner or simply pop them out. This ensures they have sharp, clean edges with no stretching or distortion.. Place on the prepared baking sheets about 1" apart.
- Repeat with the second half of the dough. Sprinkle half of the cookies with Swedish Pearl sugar or sanding sugar.
- Re-roll the scraps and cut more cookies out.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.. Cool completely.
Sour Cream Ganache and Sandwiching
- Microwave the chocolate at half power or over a double boiler until some of it is melted and appears shiny. Stir to smooth out the chocolate. Cool to lukewarm then stir in the room temperature sour cream.
- Line the cookies up with a top and bottom. Turn the bottom cookie, bottom side up. Turn the top cookie sugar side up. Pipe or spoon some of the ganache onto the bottom cookie. Spread it out flat leaving a slight edge with no ganache. Top with the top sugared cookie and very lightly press down to make sure it adheres to the ganache.
- These will last for a week in an airtight tin.
Notes
There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.
As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.
Unless otherwise noted, salt refers to table salt.
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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The butter must be cold if using the food processor.
If using the mixer it must be very soft.
If using mixer the dough may need to be chilled to firm it up before rolling. Do not let it get rock hard which it will if left in too long.
My preference is to roll between waxed paper as it is easier to see what is going on. The waxed paper needs to flipped over from time to time, the paper removed and then put back on without the wrinkles for the dough to continue to roll out evenly.
These shortbreads do not need to be chilled before baking to keep their shape. However, if they are add a few more minutes to the baking time.
The cookies benefit from being made ahead as the flavor has time to develop. They last a long time in an airtight tin.
If desired, the cookies can be cut out, frozen hard and then wrapped well and frozen. Bake them from the frozen state adding additional time.
Nutrition
Serving: 25cookies | Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
