Shortbread Bars Quick Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix flour, butter, confectioners' sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pat dough into a 9-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Cut into bars while still warm.

Steps:

• Cream icing sugar and butter until fluffy.
• Combine flours and add to the butter mixture, in small portions.
• Turn batter out into a sided 15 x 9 cookie pan or jelly roll pan. Press to the sides and smooth with the back of a spoon.
• Score into bars with a sharp knife and prick the surface with a fork. Sprinkle with the 2 tbsp of sugar.
• Bake 10 minutes at 350°, then lower the oven to 300°. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes.
• Remove from oven and immediately cut along the scored lines.
• Cool, then store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with an even layer of coconut cooking spray. Lay the graham crackers out on the baking sheet in a single layer. Set aside.
• Add the chopped semisweet chocolate to a heatsafe mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Add the coconut oil to the bowl with the chocolate and allow it to melt. Heat, stirring, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Leave the mixture in the pan, over the water, until ready to use.
• In a separate bowl, add the chopped chocolate candies and candy bars and mix to combine.
• Spoon the dulce de leche into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 15-second increments, stirring in between to make sure it doesn't burn, until slightly softened and more spreadable. The time needed will vary on your microwave--roughly 30 to 90 seconds.
• Scoop the warm dulce de leche onto the graham cracker base and spread it nearly to the edges using an offset spatula.
• Give the melted chocolate and coconut oil mixture a quick stir and pour it over the dulce de leche, spreading it evenly with a clean offset spatula. Working quickly, sprinkle the candies over the top of the dulce de leche.
• Transfer the baking sheet to the fridge and chill, uncovered, until set, about 2 hours. Once chilled, carefully remove from the baking sheet to a cutting board. Using a long serrated knife, cut the slab into 30 roughly 2-inch squares. Smaller is better as they're rich! Serve cold or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter 2 (8-inch) square nonstick pans and coat with flour, tapping off excess. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse once. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles peas. Press the shortbread mixture into prepared pans and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of butter. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Continue stirring over the heat until mixture becomes thick and amber in color, about 15 minutes. Pour the caramel over the cooked shortbread and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Cool to room temperature.
• In a glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Once chocolate has melted, pour it over the cooled caramel layer. Cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes, and then place in the refrigerator to cool completely, allowing chocolate to slightly harden but not get hard. Cut into 2-inch squares and enjoy, or store in an airtight container, at room temperature, or my favorite - keep in the refrigerator for a yummy sweet and cool treat!

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line an 8x8-inch pan with enough parchment paper to have an overhang on all sides.
• Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined. Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda until just combined. Using floured hands, press dough evenly into the prepared pan.
• Bake until edges of the crust just begin to brown, 12 to 16 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Place sliced strawberries into a large bowl. Add sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Toss to combine. Pour strawberries evenly over the crust. Place pan back into the oven and bake until strawberries have softened, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature in the pan.
• Place strawberry jam in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave for 15 seconds, or until slightly runny. Brush melted jam over the top of strawberries, and allow the bars to finish cooling completely in the pan. Carefully lift bars out of the pan using the parchment edges, and cut into 9 bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture. , Pat into an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Pierce several times with a fork. Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut while warm.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour. Press dough into an ungreased 9-in. square baking pan. Prick with a fork., Bake until light brown, 30-35 minutes. Cut into squares while warm. Cool completely on a wire rack. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°.
• Cream butter and sugar together.
• Add flour and mix till texture is like clay.
• Press dough into ungreased 9 x 13 inch pan, prick all over with a fork, and sprinkle with sugar (tilt pan to cover the top evenly, then shake excess sugar back into the sugar canister).
• Bake for about 40-45 minutes (till very lightly browned--just golden around the edges).
• Let stand for 5 minutes, then cut into 24 squares while warm.
• Leave in pan to cool thoroughly. (Shortbread will not be crisp until cool.).
• Less easy method: Chill dough. Roll into 1-inch balls, then press balls to about 1/4-inch thickness on ungreased cookie sheets with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar (sometimes you can find a glass with a pretty design on the bottom, like a star). Bake at 300° for about 20-25 minutes (until edges are very lightly browned).
• Least easy method: Chill dough. Roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness, sprinkle with sugar, then cut with cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 300° for about 20-25 minutes (until edges are very lightly browned).
• Variation: Add 2 tablespoons dried lavender to the creamed butter and sugar before adding flour. It may sound strange, but the flavor is subtle and elegant. Food-grade lavender is usually available in herb bins at health food stores, and I recently found it at a great price from Atlantic Spice online (their Lavender #1).
• Variation: After cutting shortbread into squares (it will still be warm), scatter 1 cup of chocolate chips over the top, let the chocolate soften completely, then spread as a thin layer and let cool completely before removing from pan. (No need to sprinkle shortbread with sugar before baking if you plan to do this.).
• Variation: Stir 1 cup chocolate chips or butterscotch chips into the dough before pressing into pan. You can also try melting the butterscotch over the top, as above. In England, you'll find "caramel shortbread," which has a layer of caramel and a layer of chocolate on top of the shortbread. It's wonderful (of course!). I've tried various ways of doing this and various kinds of caramel, but it's been a while and I don't remember what works best. It can be tricky not to make a mess!

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and cardamom. In another bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest, rubbing the zest into the sugar to perfume it.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream the butter on high speed until fluffy. Add the lemon sugar and salt and continue beating until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each addition, then add the dry ingredients and mix until fully combined.
• Turn the dough out and divide into 2 equal pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. (The dough can be frozen for up to a month.)
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment.
• Using the large holes on a box grater, grate one piece of the dough onto the prepared pan and spread lightly into an even layer (don't press it down into the pan). With an offset spatula, spread the jam evenly over the grated dough. Grate the remaining block of dough, then scatter the grated dough evenly over the jam layer; don't press down.
• Transfer to the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely, then cut into 40 little bars. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to a week; baked cookies can also be frozen for up to a month.