My mom's melting shortbread is one of those cookies that is a great addition to any tray of goodies whether it be for Christmas, a cookie exchange, or just because you need a large batch of cookies that you can have done and baked within an hour!
They are buttery and smooth and so versatile. As soon as they hit your tongue, they start to melt. A bit sandy and so full of flavour. If you cook them to just having a wee bit of colour - not too much - and do watch them when the time is almost up because too much colour means they went from perfection to overdone and what a waste of good butter!!
The versatility is in the shapes and toppings. You can fill a piping bag and make little swirls using a star tip - I use 1M - or make S-shapes or logs...get creative! And the toppings - sprinkles, colour coded for different events - Xmas, Halloween, rainbow, Easter, maraschino cherries cut in half, chocolate jimmies, Smarties. I mean truly the toppings are endless. And a simple swirl with no topping at all - that is my favourite!
You can easily make a half batch, but I am sharing the recipe that makes around 80 cookies! Lots for any event or sharing with many friends and family.
Melting Shortbread
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup icing sugar
2 cups butter
Directions
Preheat oven 350°F
Cream butter and icing sugar
Sift cornstarch and flour and add to butter/sugar mixture
Whip until fluffy...about 8 minutes.
Spoon or pipe onto baking sheets (I line mine with parchment paper)
Bake from 5 to 10 minutes
Check for colour...do not overbake...they should be tan in colour at most