Citrus-Ginger Shortbread Cookies- A Spring Time Zing with Your Tea

Good Morning!

Shortbread is often a simple cookie with just flour, sugar, and butter as the main ingredients. However, there are also ways to enrich them, and in this case, egg yolks give this cookie a rich flavor and color. To add some more zing and bright flavor, citrus zest from both lemons and oranges provide a nice counterbalance. I love those flecks of orange and yellow peeking through the surface of a cookie! While you can definitely stop here, consider adding a heaping teaspoon of fresh ginger for something more. Whether that is detectable or not, it sure didn’t hurt and what’s there not to love about a buttery, sweet cookie? The only issue I really had was the baking- these were definitely overdone and too crisp (bordering on hard tbh!), and while nicely brown for the camera, it should have been a paler shade of cream. Well I guess that’s why tea and cookies are a thing right? Regardless, learn from my mistake and give these a try soon! Enjoy!

Recipe:

Makes about 30 small cookies.

Citrus shortbread:

-1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

-3/4 cup (150 g) granulated white sugar

-zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

-2 large egg yolks, room temperature

-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

-2 1/4 cups (295 g) all-purpose flour

-1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

-1 heaping teaspoon freshly grated ginger

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and ginger. Set aside.

In another large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and zests until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks and extracts. Stir to combine, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you go. Stir in flour mixture until just combined and moistened. At this point, place the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a 16 x 2 inch (40 x 5 cm) rectangular log. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

About 20 minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Also, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Once the cookie dough has hardened, cut into 1/4 inch (0.5 mm) thick slices and place onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until just set and slightly golden around the edges. While baking, prepare the lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze:

-6 tablespoons (45 g) powdered sugar (aka icing or confectioner’s sugar)

-1-1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Stir together sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Allow cookies to cool completely before drizzling over the top.