Elfin Shortbread Bites Recipes

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour and sugar.
• Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.
• Stir in sprinkles.
• For Christmas you might want to use 1 T green sprinkles and 1 T red sprinkles.
• Form mixture into a ball and knead until smooth.
• Roll or pat dough on an ungreased cookie sheet into an 8x5 inch rectangle.
• Cut into 1/2 inch squares.
• Separate the squares on the cookie sheet.
• Bake in a 325F oven for 12 minutes or until the bottoms just start to brown.
• Transfer to a wire racks covered with wax paper to cool.
• Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to three days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degree F.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour and brown sugar.
• Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.
• Stir in almonds and toffee pieces. Form the mixture into a ball and knead gently until smooth.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut dough using a 1-1/4- to 1-1/2-inch scalloped or round cutter.
• Reroll dough as needed.
• Place rounds 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms just start to brown and edges are firm.
• Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

Steps:

• Combine flour, butter, salt and red pepper in medium bowl; beat at medium speed until dough forms. Add cheese; mix until a ball forms. Shape dough into circle; wrap in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
• Heat oven to 350°F Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. (It will be hard to roll at first, but will soften. Press together any cracks that form on edges of dough.) Cut dough with 1 1/2-inch cookie cutters or pizza cutter into desired shapes. Place onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Beat egg white and water together in small bowl. Brush cut-outs with egg wash; sprinkle with seeds.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until very lightly browned around edges. Immediately loosen from pan; let cool on pan.
• Recipe Tip
• Shortbread can be topped with a variety of other ingredients such as chili powder, seasoned salt, fennel seed or herbs.

Steps:

• Beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Blend all seasonings well with flour, and add all to the butter mixture. Mix with until just combined.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead about 8 times with hands, until dough comes together. Add ice water as needed if dough is too crumbly. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. On a sheet of wax paper, roll each piece of dough into a 3/4"-thick log. Sprinkle lightly with a dusting of cayenne, or a mix of all the above spices if you like.
• Wrap each log in wax paper and freeze for about 20 minutes, until fairly firm.
• Slice about 1/2" thick and bake for 15 minutes at 350.
• (The logs can be frozen a week or more ahead of time, but you will want to let them soften a bit before slicing, to prevent crumbling.).