Day 7 of my 12 days of Christmas cookies/treats! Shortbreads are Scottish cookies, traditionally made with sugar, butter and oat flour. They are simply, buttery cookies that are a holiday MUST. My mom’s family has been in the UK since 1980, so I was fortunate enough to visit UK several times, and try the delicious shortbreads. They are thick as well as thin shortbreads. I prefer the thinner version. Although the thicker long finger like versions are fantastic to dunk in tea and then they soak up all the tea and melt in your mouth!
When my friend Fanny from Oh Sweet Day blog, graciously offered to send me her debut cookbook, I was totally ecstatic! Firstly, I simply LOVE Fanny’s Instagram feed! It is full of delectable treats, and her shortbreads and cheesecakes look absolutely divine! She is originally from HongKong, and now residing in Vancouver with her family. She sells hers beautiful treats at the farmer’s market, and she has a lot of cute little customers, who admire her bakes! 😉 I do not know how she manages a farmer’s market and she even had the time to write a whole cookbook, which seems like a humungous task! I have been blown away by her beautiful bakes, her cakes, pastries all of it. They are so professional looking, and her book is a reflection of her gorgeous feed.
Fanny’s cookbook is called Oh Sweet Day, and it is a Celebration Cookbook of Edible Gifts, Party Treats and Festive Desserts. The book is divided into sections like Cakes, Buns/Breads/Muffins/Breakfast, Pies/Tarts, Cookies/Macarons, Cupcakes/Donuts/Bars and Confections. Each recipe is beautifully thought of and the book has wonderful pictures. I actually made the Chocolate Cream Hazelnut Tart, and that tart was a huge success at a friend’s party! I want to make her tartlets soon cause they look so adorable and her flavors are amazing! The cookbook is absolutely beautiful and I am in love with the cover of this book! It is absolutely stunning! If I were to receive such a cookie box, I would be over the moon 😉 Go get your copy now from Amazon here. This cookbook makes a fantastic gift as well, especially this time of the year! 🙂
I have oogled at Fanny’s shortbreads on her feed for a long time, so that was my cookie of choice as part of my 12 days of Christmas cookies/treats. These shortbreads are easy to make. I love love the lemon lavender flavor, so that is what I decided to go with! I had the dried lavender flowers, and I have a huge lemon tree in my backyard, so it was easy to put together this cookie! The flavors were absolutely sublime, and so refreshing with the lemon zest in the cookie. I decorated them with gold paint to give them a festive look.
Go give Fanny a follow on Instagram on @ohsweetday and get her beautiful book! I hope you get a chance to try this recipe! 🙂
Day 8 is super exciting, as it was one of my favorite cookies to make in this series! 🙂
Cheers,
Amisha
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp dried lavender
Instructions
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in the vanilla until combined. Add in the lemon zest and dried lavender.
- Sift in the flour and salt. Mix on low speed until just incorporated.
- Gather and form a dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a 2 inch floured cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the prepared baking pans.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely.
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