Toffee Shortbread Meltaways

Christmas to me means shortbread. My grandma always had rolled shortbread cookies around the holidays. My favourites were the stars (yes they taste different!). I love the buttery richness of shortbread. I love it plain and I love it with add ins like fruit and chocolate.

A good friend of mine brought me some of these cookies in a care package when I had my second daughter 2 years ago. After trying 1 cookie I emailed her begging for the recipe. They are incredibly delicate, soft cookies with a hint of toffee flavour. I have a hard time eating only 1 or 2 of these at a time, if I'm having coffee I can make 6 of them disappear!

Give them a try this Christmas, your family and friends will love them!



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Toffee Shortbread Meltaways adapted from the 2006 Robin Hood Baking is Back booklet
1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. corn starch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 c. Skor toffee bits

Instructions:

1. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla.
2. In separate bowl combine flour, corn starch, and baking powder.
3. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and combine, stir in toffee bits.
4. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake at 350˚F for approx 12 - 15 min, until lightly golden. Let cool on pan for 5 min.

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enjoy,

Cherry and Fresh Mint Tart with Rustic Vanilla Shortbread Crust - The Gourmet Pregnancy

For our final recipe from The Gourmet Pregnancy we enjoyed the Cherry and Fresh Mint Tart with Rustic Vanilla Shortbread Crust. The title is a mouthful and so was the dessert! The crust was heavenly, so light and crumbly and buttery and it was the perfect base for the minty cherry filling. I can see doing this recipe several times and switching up the fruit to strawberries, raspberries or peaches.



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Cherry and Fresh Mint Tart with Rustic Vanilla Shortbread Crust

Crust
1 c butter
1 tsp pure vaniall extract
1/2 c icing sugar
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Filling
1/4 c chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 c water, boiled
3 c cherries, halved and pitted
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
Instructions:

1. To make crust, cream the butter and vanilla. Add sugar and blend well.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch and add to the butter mixture and whip with a hand blender until well blended.
3. Transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet and press with your hand to make a relatively flat and even 8 x 12" rectangle.
4. Roll up the edges to about 3/4" for a rustic-looking crust.
5. Prick base all over with a fork and bake in a preheated 325˚F oven until just golden, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
6. To make filling, place mint in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over top. Muddle the mint with a spoon or pestle crushing it into the water. Let stand for 10 minutes.
7. Once the water is cool pour the mint mixture into a saucepan and add the cherries, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla and mix well.
8. Cook stirring often over medium heat until the cherries soften and the mixture becomes thick and glossy.
9. Spread cherry filling evenly on the crust. Let cool completely and serve.

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Review: Once again my husband didn't have any because cherries "aren't his thing" but Phil, PJ and I weren't sad about it, more for us! We all agreed the crust was amazing, definitely the star in this recipe. Phil and PJ both liked the cherry/mint combination and liked how impressive the dessert looked for how easy it was to make. The mint/cherry combination left me a little perplexed. I've never had minted fruit and I wasn't sure if I loved it. I think the next time I make this I will take the muddled leaves out of the water before making the cherry filling as I personally found the leaves to be over-powering in the tart. But the bites I had without any of the mint leaves were excellent! We gave this recipe 3.5 cupcakes!





enjoy!