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Polka Dot Shortbread

Source of Recipe

From "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea" by Martha Foose


Recipe Introduction

"The secret to the sandy texture of this adorable shortbread is rice flour. Little dots of fruit jam and lemon curd dress up the tops and melt right into the buttery cookie."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
â—¦ ¼ cup rice flour
â—¦ ½ cup sugar
â—¦ ½ teaspoon salt
â—¦ 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
â—¦ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
â—¦ 2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
â—¦ 2 tablespoons lemon curd


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 325° F.

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, blend the flours, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and vanilla and pulse several times to form a dough. Press the dough into an 8-inch tart pan with a removable bottom or into a ¼-inch-thick round on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Score the dough to mark 16 wedges. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, fill two small piping bags or sandwich bags with the jam and lemon curd.

Remove the shortbread from the oven. With a wooden dowel or spoon handle, make small divots around the surface of the dough, pressing about halfway through the dough. Fill some dots with a small squirt of jam and some with a small squirt of lemon curd. Return to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes, or until golden around the edges. Be careful not to let them get too dark; just the edges should begin to brown. Cool in the pan on a rack.

Remove from the pan and cut along the scored marks.

Makes 16 cookie wedges




Notes:

• Use a top-quality butter or European-style or organic cultured butter for the freshest butter flavor.

• This basic dough is wonderful baked without the dots, but can also be flavored many ways. Try adding ¼ teaspoon lemon, orange, or mint extract in place of the vanilla.

• Look for lemon and lime curd in the jam section at the market. Apricot jam and seedless blackberry jam are also a good combination.

• If making these on a baking sheet, press the outer edge with the tines of a fork to decorate.

• This shortbread keeps well in a tin and ships well, too.