shortbread cookies {bwd}

We are huge shortbread fans here. Huge, as in Costco-sized Walkers 5-pound Tins Huge. I assume they are meant for holiday entertaining, but we, The Family, manage to entertain just ourselves and plow through them all. Walkers bakes them in differing shapes— finger, petticoat triangles, rounds —and I am partial to the finger. They present the oh-so-perfect bite, with no mess around the edges.

For the Baking With Dorie group, we tried out Dorie's version, which strays from the traditional recipe with the addition of bit of cornmeal. I don't have cornmeal on hand, and I tend to never use up the bag when I buy it, so I'm sticking with the original, subbing in flour for the called-for ½ cup cornmeal.

My dough (2 sticks butter, 2 cups flour, ¼ cup cornstarch, vanilla and a pinch of salt) was looking on the dry side. After just a bit more mixing (Dorie advises to not overmix, so I was paranoid!),

it pretty much held together after it was put into a plastic bag and rolled out. This was a new-to-me technique.

After a 2 hour refrigerator chill, I removed it and cut out fingers, approximately 1½ x 1 inch. I was in a stingy mood, and though it yielded 50+ cookies, next time I'll cut them bigger.

Using a fork, I poked the cookie twice, all the down to the bottom.  These are a rich, buttery, crisp, fabulous, delicious cookie and I will definitely make it again. No more Walkers Shortbread for me!

Thanks to Rivki for the pick. You can find her version and all my other baking pals' cookies at the Baking With Dorie site.