World’s Best Scottish Shortbread

Best Scottish Shortbread Cookies

It’s the Christmas season (of course if you’re a retailer the season seemed to start July 5th) and all thoughts turn to cooking and more importantly cookies. We gave up years ago with the cookie press and cutouts just way too much work. We’ve managed to narrow the selection down to our Best Scottish Shortbread and peanut butter cookies. Our shortbread has been a favorite for many many years, we are already getting people asking when they can expect them !

It’s not a totally traditional recipe, but has been handed down to us by my late step grandmother, we just call them Sarah’s Shortbread cookies, and in our estimation they are absolutely the best. They are also fairly fool proof and very easy to make.

Ingredients for Best Scottish Shortbread

4 sticks of butter (1 lb. )softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour

Directions for Best Scottish Shortbread

Pre heat oven to 305°

In the bowl of the mixer place the sugar and butter and cream until soft and fluffy.

Add the yolk and vanilla and continue to mix until completely incorporated.

Slowly add the flour and mix until all combined.

You can take teaspoonfuls roll into ball and place on an ungreased baking pan or use a #100 scoop. Using the back of the tines of a lightly floured fork flattened the balls.

*with the back tines of a floured fork flatten the balls*

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 28- 30 minutes until they begin to lightly brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool and once cooled can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks, but don’t worry they won’t last that long. This recipe yields about 75+ cookies.

If you want to be a traditionalist skip the vanilla. Or you can substitute any flavor you think might go lemon, almond etc.

Here are a few items to help make this recipe:
Nordic Ware Naturals Bakers Half Sheet
Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, 11 5/8 x 16 1/2-inches, Half Sheet Size
Stainless Steel 3/8 Oz. Disher/Portioner (Size 100)

It’s yule time, and I’m very busy taking ornaments off the tree and sniffing out all the gifts, a couple smell like they have my name on them! , but I certainly take a break when the Shortbread comes out of the oven. It is the king of biscuits!!!! so 5 paws

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Scottish Shortbread

2013-12-08 00:46:07

Yields 75

A great cookie

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

28 min

Total Time

45 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

28 min

Total Time

45 min

Ingredients

4 sticks of butter (1 lb. )softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour

Instructions

Pre heat oven to 305°
In the bowl of the mixer place the sugar and butter and cream until soft and fluffy.
Add the yolk and vanilla and continue to mix until completley incorporated.
Slowly add the flour and mix until all combined.
You can take teaspoon fulls roll into ball and place on an ungreased baking pan or use a #100 scoop. Using the back of the tines of a lightly floured fork flattened the balls.
Place into the preheated oven and bake for 28 minutes until they begin to lightly brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool and once cooled can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks, but don't worry they won't last that long. This recipe yields about 75+ cookies.

Notes

If you want to be a traditionalist skip the vanilla. Or you can substitute any flavor you think might go lemon, almond etc.

Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/

December 2, 2013December 30, 2014

Savory Bread Pudding

My son came to visit and we needed different dinners every night. So once he went back up north, I was inundated with an abundance of leftovers. My favorite pass time is to try and figure out different combinations to use up leftovers and this was a winner on two counts, it used up a lot of stuff and it tasted great.

I had a tupperware of steamed broccoli, another of roasted carrots, in another about a cup and a half of chicken gravy, a small baguette of garlic bread,some leftover slices of sharp cheddar cheese, in another a small amount of sour cream.

I cubed the garlic bread and placed it into a large bowl, added the broccoli and carrots and gravy and added about 1 Tbs of rosemary and 1 Tbs of sage mixed this up well and then added about 1 1/2 cups of milk into which I scrambled 4 eggs to form a custard. Combined everything well. Placed everything into a 9 X 9 inch baking pan that was greased with vegetable spray, put the cheddar cheese slices on top, and placed in a 350° oven for about 45 minutes until the custard was set. Once set I took it out of the oven and let it sit for a few minutes, then served with sour cream.

Not exactly gourmet but it certainly ended up as a easy and tasty way to use up the leftovers. Hopefully this will give someone out there ideas of their own. Substitute creme fraiche for sour cream,add whatever you think will go together well and with a few herbs and spices perk it up for a great dinner.

I do love carrots, the green stuff not so sure but it was covered with chicken gravy and custard, yummy! I personally would have hidden a nice beef bone inside but then I’m not the chef. 5 paws even with out the meat.

If you enjoy our site and are thinking of purchasing anything from Amazon, please use the link to Amazon from our site. It doesn’t cost you anything and we profit from the ads and purchases .

Please help us keep our blog going by letting your friends know we’re here and by checking out the links on our front page.

November 29, 2013January 27, 2015

Autumn Cheesecake

I had a friend ask if I could make her a dessert for her family for the day before Thanksgiving. She had relatives coming into town on Wednesday and was planning a big dinner. The first couple of ideas that came to mind would have required her to bake or prepare in some way so I crossed them off my list. I thought of Tiramisu, but she was making a coffee gravy brisket so that would have been too much coffee. I finally settled on an Autumn Cheesecake, it’s not a traditional Thanksgiving dessert and so it won’t compete with the next days offerings, yet it still is festive.

It is a fairly easy to make recipe, with great results.

Autumn Cheesecake Ingredients

For the crust

8-9 Graham crackers finely chopped to crumbs = 1+ cups
1/2 cup very finely chopped pecans
3 Tbs Sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 Tbs butter melted

For the Batter

2 -8oz packages cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the apple layer

7-8 baking apples (ie: Granny Smith)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

For the topping

4-5 Tbs apricot preserve melted
1/4 cup chopped pecans (lightly toasted optional)

Directions for the Autumn Cheesecake

For the Apple layer:

Peel and core the apples and slice thinly add to the sugar and cinnamon and mix well until all the apples are coated. Set aside.

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 350°

In a small sauce pan melt the butter

In the food processor add the pecans and chop until very fine, add the Graham crackers and pulse until finely chopped and put mixture into a bowl. Add the butter and with a fork stir to combine, until all the cracker is wet with butter and no dry parts are still visible.

Place the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and press down to form a solid bottom crust. Place into the center of the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, remove to a wire rack to cool..

For the batter:

In the bowl of the mixer place the softened cream cheese and the sugar and on medium speed cream until well combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and the blades of the mixer add the vanilla and on medium low add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until each is well incorporated. Pour into the cooled springform pan and smooth the mixture level.

Apples:

Arrange the apples in decorative layer over the batter and then place the pan into the oven and bake for about 70 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack to cool.

In the mean time melt the preserve and once the apples a lightly cooled brush the preserve over apples to coat all and give a nice sheen to the top. Sprinkle the pecans over the apples. Now carefully run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen from the sides of the pan and then cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, overnight even better.

Remove from the refrigerator about an hour before serving and remove the sides of the springform pan. Sit back and wait for the Ohhs and Ahhs!

I’m a very spoiled SAP (Scottish American Princess) and I don’t care for cinnamon, but the cheese and cake layers are divine! So a reluctant 5 paws for the effort.

If you enjoy our site and are thinking of purchasing anything from Amazon, please use the link to Amazon from our site. It doesn’t cost you anything and we profit from the ads and purchases .

Please help us keep our blog going by letting your friends know we’re here and by checking out the links on our front page.

Autumn Cheesecake

2013-11-29 19:11:43

Serves 8

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Save Recipe

Prep Time

50 min

Cook Time

1 hr 10 min

Total Time

2 hr

Prep Time

50 min

Cook Time

1 hr 10 min

Total Time

2 hr

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST
8-9 Graham crackers finely chopped to crumbs
1/2 cup very finely chopped pecans
3 Tbs Sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 Tbs butter melted
FOR THE BATTER
2 -8oz packages cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
FOR THE APPLE LAYER
7-8 baking apples (ie: Granny Smith)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
FOR THE TOPPING
4-5 Tbs apricot preserve melted
1/4 cup chopped pecans (lightly toasted optional)

FOR THE APPLE LAYER

Peel and core the apples and slice thinly add to the sugar and cinnamon and mix well until all the apples are coated. Set aside.

FOR THE CRUST

Preheat oven to 350°
In a small sauce pan melt the butter
In the food processor add the pecans and chop until very fine, add the Graham crackers and pulse until finely chopped and put mixture into a bowl. Add the butter and with a fork stir to combine, until all the cracker is wet with butter and no dry parts are still visible.
Place the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and press down to form a solid bottom crust. Place into the center of the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, remove to a wire rack to cool..

FOR THE BATTER

In the bowl of the mixer place the softened cream cheese and the sugar and on medium speed cream until well combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and the blades of the mixer add the vanilla and on medium low add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until each is well incorporated. Pour into the cooled springform pan and smooth the mixture level.

APPLES

Arrange the apples in decorative layer over the batter* and then place the pan into the oven and bake for about 70 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.
In the mean time melt the preserve and once the apples a lightly cooled brush the preserve over apples to coat all and give a nice sheen to the top. Sprinkle the pecans over the apples. Now carefully run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen from the sides of the pan and then cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, overnight even better.
Remove from the refrigerator about an hour before serving and remove the sides of the springform pan. Sit back and wait for the Ohhs and Ahhs!

Notes

8-9 Graham crackers equals approximately 1+ cups

Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/