Never-Fail Shortbread Cookies by Tonia Jordan

This recipe gives you crumbling, melt in your mouth shortbread cookies. It requires that you make a dough and refrigerate it at least one hour before baking, so allow for enough time to bake these cookies.

First, prepare the dough. Ingredients you will need:
1 cup unsalted butter (not margarine), softened to room temperature½ cup powdered (confectioners) sugar1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 ½ cups all-purpose flour½ cup cornstarch¼ teaspoon salt

Whisk flour, cornstarch and salt in a separate bowl and set aside. In a bowl, cream butter about one minute with an electric or hand mixer. Add the sugar and beat until smooth, about 1.5 to 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract, then gently stir in flour mixture until incorporated. Do not over mix. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic. Chill dough for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking spray.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ¼ inch thick. Cut into rounds or into shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.

(If you find that your cookies lose their shape during baking, try placing the entire baking sheet with cut dough in the refrigerator for fifteen minutes before baking. This will ensure the cookies keep their shape while baking.)

Cool on a wire rack and store in airtight containers. Cookies can also be frozen.
There are many choices for topping shortbread cookies. Some popular choices include powdered sugar, sugar sprinkles, or even dipping the ends in melted chocolate.

The great thing about shortbread dough is that it is delicious plain or with added flavors. Try adding chocolate chips, espresso powder, cinnamon or finely chopped orange or lemon zest. Each of these can add a good accompaniment to the flavor of plain shortbread.

The secret to this cookie recipe is the cornstarch. In any cookie recipe, you can replace a portion of flour with cornstarch to make the cookie have a crumbly texture. If you're looking for more of a crunchy texture, replace ¼ cup of flour with rice flour. Also, be sure to purchase pure vanilla extract, instead of imitation vanilla (which is made from synthetic vanilla and tastes more bitter). Believe me, you can taste the difference!
Particularly with cookies, using higher quality ingredients will give you a better tasting product in the end. Look for high quality butter (Grade AA is the highest grade of butter, and therefore, the highest quality).

About the Author
Tonia Jordan is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.