Oat Shortbread from Molly @MysteryMacRae plus #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here, delighted to welcome Molly MacRae to the blog with a yummy recipe perfect for her Highland Bookshop Mysteries. I plan to make these treats tomorrow!

Oat Shortbread and a Giveaway

Shortbread is one of my favorite cookies any time of year, but it’s especially good around the holidays. This delicious version uses very little flour and lots of oats. It’s super easy to make and good plain or jazzed up with a dip of chocolate and a sprinkle of crystalized ginger.

Oat Shortbread

Preheat oven to 325º F

 

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups rolled oats

⅓ cup dark brown sugar

2 T white flour

6 T unsalted butter, softened

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. vanilla extract

 

Optional topping:

¼ cup chocolate chips, melted

2 T. crystalized ginger, diced

(But, really, are chocolate and ginger ever optional?)

 

Directions:

1.      Put all ingredients (except chocolate and ginger) in a bowl and mix thoroughly

2.      Press mixture into greased 8x8 pan.

3.      Bake 30 minutes

4.      Cool 10 minutes

5.      If using optional topping, melt chocolate chips and dice ginger while shortbread cools

6.      Cut shortbread into squares, rectangles, or triangles

7.      Dip one end of shortbread into melted chocolate (or paint it on with a small rubber spatula)

8.      Sprinkle diced ginger over still melty chocolate 

Store in cookie tin. This recipe can easily be doubled and made in a 9x13 pan.

The women who run Yon Bonnie Books and Cakes and Tales tearoom in my Highland Bookshop Mysteries love shortbread, too. To celebrate Thistles and Thieves and Heather and Homicide, which both came out this year, I’m giving away a copy of either book – winner’s    choice. 

For your chance to win, tell me about your favorite cookie in a comment and remember to leave your email address. I’ll choose a winner, at random, at noon on New Year’s Eve. Sorry, U.S. entries only.

 

About Thistles and Thieves – book 3 in the Highland Bookshop Mysteries

The women of Yon Bonnie Books are embroiled in the death of a local doctor, which sets off a chain of other curious – and deadly – events. A story featuring bicycles, a mysterious box of books, a regimental dagger, and the promise (or threat?) of haggis. Available in hardback, e-book, and audio from your locally-owned independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Or ask for it at your local library. 

About Heather and Homicide – book 4 in the Highland Bookshop Mysteries

If true-crime writer Heather Kilbride has arrived to research a recent murder for her new book, why does she seem more interested in a shadowy lawyer with no connection to that murder? A story featuring unconventional research methods, miniature books, tempting dark chocolate cake, and an ancient circle of standing stones. Available in hardback, e-book, and audio from your locally-owned independent bookstores, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Or ask for it at your local library. 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the bestselling, award-winning author of the Highland Bookshop Mysteries and the Haunted Yarn Shop. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990 and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Molly lives in Champaign, Illinois. You can visit her at www.mollymacrae.com.