Scottish Shortbread Fingers #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

Libby Klein My grandmother was Scottish and Irish. She had red hair and a feisty temperament bound to deliver snappy zingers. If you've read my Poppy McAllister series you know her as Aunt Ginny. One year I took a trip to the motherland - Scotland and Ireland - to see where I come from. The people were so kind and generous, it's one of my favourite trips ever. <-- See the British "U" in favourite there. I was also amazed at the family resemblance all around me. Looking at the ahem little round Scottish ladies was like looking into a mirror. This answered so many questions I'd had my whole life. You may have noticed the discreet nod to Doctor Who. Are you a fan? Let me know in the comments what your favourite Doctor number is. Mine is 10.

If you love those Scottish shortbread rounds in the plaid printed boxes, you'll be thrilled with my gluten-free version. The secret is really good butter. On the food opera stage, butter is the grand diva. She takes center stage for her aria, so you want her to be rich and full-bodied. I like a good European butter for this act. If you find your shortbread to be a little soft after cooling, you can always toast them in the oven for 5 minutes until they are a little darker brown and crispy after they cool.

Disclaimer - Read all your labels to make sure your ingredients are gluten-free. Gluten can be sneaky.

Gluten-Free Scottish Shortbread

Makes about 3 dozen fingers

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean

3 cups gluten free flour

½ teaspoon salt

 

 

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Split your vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the gooey inside. 

  

Add it to the butter. Add the gluten-free flour and salt. Mix well. The dough will begin to come together somewhat crumbly, but it should very easily clump together if you gather it with your hand.

Roll the dough on either parchment paper or a lightly floured work surface until it is about ¼-inch thick. Decide what shape you’d like the shortbread in. If you’d like it to be a round, shape it into a circle by hand. If you’d like it to bake in a pan, press it into a greased or parchment-lined pan. 

Or, cut the rolled dough into shapes using a lightly floured cutter. I rolled and pressed mine in an 8x10 sheet pan. Score the dough if it will be sliced after baking, and lightly prick all over with the tines of a fork.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the sides and bottoms are lightly browned but the top is just set. Let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely and separate into your shapes if necessary. I like to serve it with melted dipping chocolate.

 Poppy McAllister discovers that gluten-free Halloweens can scare up another case of murder in the latest installment of this delightful culinary B&B mystery series!

Poppy is none too pleased when her B&B is coerced into participating in the Cape May Haunted Dinners Tour during Halloween season. Though her knack for finding dead bodies has given the place a spooky reputation, the Murder House is a completely undeserved nickname. At least it used to be . . .
 
While Poppy wrangles with some guests who can’t stop squabbling with each other—including a paranormal researcher, a very quirky pet psychic who freaks out her portly Persian, and an undercover tabloid reporter eager to catch her staff in a lie—one of them winds up facedown in a plate of tiramisu. And now she has bigger worries than getting her house TP’d . . .
 
Includes Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!
 
“A cast of wacky characters, plenty of humor, and the antiques and B&B frame provide the appeal.” —Booklist on Antique Auctions are Murder

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Scottish Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies @LucyBurdette #recipe

Mike, Lewis, Bob, John

LUCY BURDETTE: In October, my husband went on a dream trip —playing golf in Scotland with his three brothers and four other childhood friends. (Aren't they so cute?) They had an amazing time, and he came home with small packages of Walker’s shortbread cookies, which they found at every hotel and B and B.  
Naturally I became addicted to these cookies and decided I should try making some myself. Neither the brown sugar nor the almond extract are traditional, but they sounded like good additions to me.

Ingredients
    •    1 cup unsalted butter, softened
    •    1/2 cup packed brown sugar
    •    2 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    •    almond extract, 1 tsp

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the extract. Mix in the flour on low speed until it’s just combined. (If you work the dough too hard, the cookies will be tough.) 

Roll the dough out on a piece of floured parchment into a rough rectangle (no more than 1/2 inch deep), then move the whole thing to your baking pan. Score the dough into the size cookies you want. Bake at 325 until lightly browned. 







Once removed from the oven, prick the warm cookies with a fork and cut through the scored lines.

You might want to whip up a batch for National Shortbread Day on January 6!

Don't forget that mysteries make great stocking stuffers! (Here's my Pinterest board with tons of suggestions...)

For Robbie Burns Day: great-great grandmother's Scottish short bread

By Victoria Abbott aka Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini

Growing up in Cape Breton Island on the east coast of Canada, all things Scottish were important to us. After all,Cape Breton is part of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia is Latin for New Scotland.  The rugged coastline is similar to that of Scotland. There were many Scots among the early settlers and Scottish culture was important. You can still find Gaelic road signs.  On January 25th many celebrate the great Scottish poet.  When Robbie Burns Day rolls, we still sit up and take notice.   And we'll answer to MacFinney while we're at it.

As Robbie Burns Day happens in cold and dreary January, it’s a welcome celebration.  We’ll put on some Celtic music and dress up the table with our Nova Scotia tartan tablecloth and have a traditional recipe.

Nope, not haggis.  Sorry to disappoint!

 But we’ll be serving the buttery shortbread cookies that MJ’s mum and Victoria’s grandmother always made. This recipe is called Great-great-grandmother’s Shortbread Cookies.  It’s been in steady use for at least 150 years.  

In our family, they were cut in rectangles and decorated with buttercream icing and little bits of Maraschino cherries. They were very cheerful and always a staple at Christmas and Robbie Burns Day. We used dried cranberries.

We went for round cut-outs this time and even a couple of ‘Scottie dogs’.  Next year, more Scottie dogs.

We’ll serve our shortbread with tea, perhaps, and a glass of Scotch on the night. We went for Famous Grouse, a blend, because we thought it looked nice and Scottish.  


 Much as we love single malt whisky, we didn’t think it went with cookies. 

So please, drop in and enjoy.  We'll be glad to see you.

Great-great-grandmother’s shortbread

½ lb butter (1 cup)

½ cup icing sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp granulated sugar

Mix together, using a stand mixer or a pastry cutter. We went modern.  Roll dough into a ball

Wrap in wax paper (or cloth or even saran wrap) and put in fridge for 15 minutes.

Roll out on floured surface to about 1/3 inch thick. 

Cut in rectangles with a knife 

Or use cookie cutters to make fancy shapes.  We stayed with round. Poke little decorative holes with a fork.

 

 Sprinkle with granulated sugar (optional)

 By the way, you can make  your shortbread a bit thicker, but they may need to bake a bit longer.

Bake at 300 in MIDDLE RACK for 18 – 20 minutes. They shouldn’t brown, that will change the taste.  Cool.  Ice if you wish.

 



Butter Cream Icing

Blend 1 cup icing sugar and ¼ cup soft butter. Add 1 ½ tablespons cream (milk or hot water if you’re stuck) and 1 tsp of vanilla. Sometimes  we add ¼ almond extract too.  Taste and adjust. If too sweet, add a pinch of salt.


HAPPY ROBBIE BURNS DAY!

  

Victoria Abbott is the mysterious collaboration between the artist and photographer Victoria Maffini and her mother, the mystery writer, Mary Jane Maffini.  Strangely enough, their three book collector mysteries, The Christie Curse, The Sayers Swindle and The Wolfe Widow all contain lots of food.The Marsh Madness is due out in September 2015

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And if you want a trip to Cape Breton yourself, hunt down a copy of MJ’s Little Boy Blues: a Camilla MacPhee mystery. A road trip is included.

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