Raisin Shortbread Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Combine rum and currants; cover, and let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons rum.
• Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest with a mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and reserved rum, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, coconut, and salt, and beat for 3 minutes. Stir in currants by hand.
• Form dough into 2 logs, each about 1 1/2 inches in diameter; wrap in parchment, and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove parchment. Slice logs into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, and space about 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Beat together the butter, salt, and vanilla until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour to make a thick dough. With your hands, gather the dough into 2 balls, one a little larger than the other. Flatten the smaller ball of dough into a thin, even layer on the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, as you would a tart shell. (Or use a larger baking sheet with low sides and press the dough into a 9- by 13-inch rectangle.) Spread the raisins evenly over the dough and gently press to embed them. Break the other ball of dough into pieces and distribute them over the raisins. Pressing gently, spread and flatten them to cover all the raisins evenly with a layer of dough. (If the baking dish is shallow enough, you can finish the top with a rolling pin.)
• Beat the egg and use a pastry brush to coat the top of the dough evenly with egg. Slowly drag a fork back and forth across the dough to make a decorative pattern, using the back of the tines. Crisscrossed diagonal lines look quite nice. Bake about 40 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool and cut into 1-by 3-inch rectangular bars.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the flour until well blended, then mix in coconut raisins and pecans (if desired). Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls or logs and place them 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream sugars and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle. , For filling, in a saucepan, combine the cornstarch, flour and brown sugar. Stir in water until smooth. Add raisins. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir and cook for 3 minutes or until thickened. Cool. , On a floured surface, roll out dough into 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in.-round cookie cutters. Spoon 2 teaspoons filling on top of half the circles and top each with another circle. Pinch edges together and cut slit in top. , Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Whisk butter, COOL WHIP and egg in large bowl until blended. Add remaining ingredients; mix well.
• Press onto bottom of 8-inch square pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cut dough into 24 rectangles.
• Bake 20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut into bars, following original cutting lines.

Steps:

• 1. Combine rum and currants; cover, and let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons rum.
• 2. Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest with a mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and reserved rum, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, coconut, and salt, and beat for 3 minutes. Stir in currants.
• 3. Form dough into 2 logs, each about 1 1/2 inches in diameter; wrap in parchment and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
• 4. Preheat oven to 325F. Remove parchment. Slice logs into 1/4 inch thick rounds, and space about 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Steps:

• Bring the raisins and rum to a boil in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand for several hours or overnight. When ready to bake the cookies drain the raisins in a strainer set over a small bowl; use any leftover rum for something else.
• Sift together the sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter until it is very soft. Add the sugar and beat well until completely smooth. On low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating until smooth.
• Stir in the prepared raisins. Transfer the dough to a large piece of wax paper or aluminum foil, wrap, flatten slightly, and refrigerate for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Do not freeze the dough or it will become too firm to roll.
• When ready to bake the cookies adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 375 degrees F.
• Place the dough on lightly floured pastry cloth and turn it over to flour all sides lightly. With a floured rolling pin roll the dough gently only until it is 1/2-inch thick, no thinner!
• Use a plain round cookie cutter about 2 1/2-inches in diameter. Dip the cutter in flour before cutting each cookie and cut them as close to each other as possible. When cutting a cookie press the cutter very firmly into the dough and rotate it slightly in order to cut through the raisins. Press the scraps together, chill them, and reroll. Place the cookies 1 to 2 inches apart on unbuttered cookie sheets.
• Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Reverse the sheets top to bottom and front to back to insure even browning. With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to racks to cool.
• Since these are fragile the author likes to wrap them individually in clear cellophane. However you store them-handle with care.