Filling your holiday cookie tray just got easier, thanks to a clever method for making shortbread cookies. Start with a basic recipe that you can customize with quick herb (and seasoning) changes. The result is a buttery cookie that offers classic buttery buttery richness with a garden-fresh flavor. Go sweet or savory, sharp or soft – this is one cookie that lets your creativity shine.
Julie Martens Forney
Julie Martens Forney
Julie Martens Forney
To prepare pineapple flowers with sage, remove the inedible green bract at the base of the flowers.
Julie Martens Forney
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.
Julie Martens Forney
Add grass blades and/or flowers. Pulse two or three times to combine herbs and dry ingredients.
Cut the butter into 8 pieces. Add it to the bowl of the food processor, along with any other seasonings (pepper, cheese, or pineapple).
Julie Martens Forney
Pulse to combine ingredients, stopping every so often to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to pulse (20-30 times) until a dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Form a log about 6 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The diameter of the record determines the final size of the cookie. For smaller cookies, turn a longer, narrower log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap, twisting the ends of the wrap to seal.
Julie Martens Forney
Slide the log into a paper towel tube that has been cut on one side. Cap the tube closed over the dough log. The tube ensures that your register will not have a flat side, but will be perfectly round.
Freeze dough until firm (about 1 hour). Store frozen dough for up to a month.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Julie Martens Forney
Unwrap log from dough and cut into 1/4-inch rounds. Space the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle salted buttermilk, such as sage-and-pepper parmesan, with coarse salt before baking. This gives the cookie a cookie-like bite.
Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the pan from front to back and bake another 8-10 minutes. The cookies should be set and golden, not browned..
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Julie Martens Forney
Yield is 20 to 24 cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container up to 1 week. Herb cookies can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Explore flavor combinations by making other herb cookie mixes. The blends are limitless and can be tailored to suit a sweet tooth or, like the Pepper Sage Parmesan, offer a savory bite that provides the perfect accompaniment to a salad or steamy bowl of soup. When using other herbs, consume approximately the same ratio of ingredients as in the recipe. Treat moist fruits like pineapple cutlet, drain and even stain to limit liquid. Other tasty flavor mixes include:
