Ina Garten is a goddess. I don’t think there is a single recipe of hers that I’ve tried that hasn’t come out amazing. OK, these shortbread cookies have only five ingredients (butter, flour, vanilla, salt and sugar), but still, it’s all in the proportions and these shortbread cookies are perfection. Every bite is probably irreparably clogging my arteries, but it’s so worth it.
The recipe is here, and I give you my word that these will be the best shortbread cookies you’ve ever tasted. The one thing I would advise is to keep your eye on the oven, because these got brown around the edges a lot faster than the stated 20 to 25 minutes. With my oven, they were done in 12 minutes or so.
I’ve been really into Dala/Dalecarlian horses lately. I think they’re so cheerful and festive and I think we can all use some uplifting. These are an homage to those wooden animals pervasive in Sweden.
I used this kind of chocolate for the icing that strikes just the right balance with the extraordinary buttery taste of the shortbread. K was especially excited about the cactus and turnip cookie cutters and did a good job with them. We blasted cheesy Christmas songs while we made cookies and I felt like it was all very Norman Rockwell. And it made me happy. We delivered the snowflakes in a little mason jar to some family friends, and I hope they enjoy them.
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Try as I might, I have no adequate words to express my deepest sympathies — my prayers are with the families of Newtown, Connecticut. I am heartbroken for them all.
These look – and I”m sure taste – amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
And thanks too for your words about Sandy Hook – it feels weird as another week starts to “get on” with life as per usual. So thanks for acknowledging that things are far from usual as we all grieve with these families.
Oh, Lucinda thank you for the acknowledgment. I am still unhinged emotionally in many ways, and I am trying to find ways to help the families in any way.