Ghostly Shortbread Cookies # Recipe @PegCochran #Halloween

 

Do you believe in ghosts?  I have a friend who has a house in Massachusetts that was built in the early 1700s.  He swears it's haunted.  He said he hears noises at night--doors slamming, furniture moving.  I remember walking into one of the rooms in the house and there was this sudden chill...a ghost perhaps?  The spirit of some long ago resident?  Fortunately he believes his ghosts are friendly ghosts.

I usually make a mess of cookies that need to be cut out--they stick to the counter or to the cookie cutter or other calamities.  But this dough was very easy to work with.  The key was keeping it cold.  I liked that the recipe called for less sugar than other recipes.  Of course there's all that butter but that's what makes them taste so delicious!  In honor of Halloween, I got out my ghost cookie cutter (full disclosure: I ordered it from Amazon on Tuesday) and I brainstormed ways to make "eyes" on my little ghosts.  I had a bag of craisins so I cut them into smaller pieces and used those.  Dark raisins would also work or perhaps currants.  Even if you are afraid of ghosts, I think you'll like these!  Recipe courtesy of the American Pecan Council

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter   

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium until light and fluffy.

 

In another bowl, whisk together the flour and salt until combined.

 

On low, slowly add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture.  After all the flour is incorporated, increase mixer speed and mix until the dough forms a ball.

 

 

 

Divide dough into two portions and form into discs.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Roll out dough on a floured surface (keep other disc in the refrigerator until ready to use) approximately ¼ inch to ½ inch thick.  Cut out cookies and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.   Add craisins if using.

 

 

Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 18 to 20 minutes until golden around the edges.  Baking time will depend on your oven—my cookies took longer than 20 minutes so keep an eye on them.

 

 

 

 

Tip: After rolling dough and cutting out cookies, put the scraps back in the refrigerator while you work on the second disc.  Put the scraps from the second disc in the refrigerator while you roll out the scraps from the first disc.

 

 

COVER REVEAL!

COMING MARCH 1 - PRE-ORDER NOW!

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A murder in her quaint British bookshop drops American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish into her deadliest caper yet.

Penelope Parish is ready to close the book on her amateur sleuthing—from now on, The Open Book’s writer-in-residence will be sticking to villains of the fictional variety while she puts the final touches on her new novel. But when an author is murdered inside the bookshop, all of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke goes on high alert.
 
Now it’s up to Pen and the quirky citizens of Chumley to stop a killer and protect the charming British town she’s begun to call home.

 Book #1

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    Book #2

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Easy Scottish Shortbread Cookies from Amanda Flower

 

A warm welcome to Amanda Flower who has a new book out! FLOWERS AND FOUL play takes place in Scotland, and poor Amanda had to take a trip there to get the scoop on magical gardens and shortbread!

Don't miss her giveaway at the bottom of the post!

When I was in Scotland researching Flowers and Foul Play, I think I may have eaten my weight in Scottish shortbread cookies. It seemed to me there was a Walkers Shortbread shop in every city I visited and even in many of the villages. When I went back to my B&B for the night after a day of research, I found that the maid put a piece of shortbread on my pillow. I became accustomed to having shortbread and tea every evening before bed, and I felt VERY Scottish, even though I don’t actually have a drop of Scottish blood in me.

Of course, you can buy Walkers shortbread here in the U.S., but after my trip to Scotland, I thought I would try my hand at making it. Enjoy this recipe inspired by my travels to research Flowers and Foul Play, the first in the Magic Garden Mysteries set in Scotland. My protagonist Fiona Knox inherits a magical garden in Scotland just in time to solve a murder!

Easy Scottish Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (softened)

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

9x 13 inch pan

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream brown sugar and butter together.
3. Add half of the flour to the butter and sugar and begin to knead, slowly added the rest of the flour as you knead until the consistency is a little like Play-Doh.
4. Press dough firmly into a 9x13 inch pan and prick up and down the dough with a fork.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until a light golden brown.
6. Cut while still warm and cool cookies on a wire rack.
7. Enjoy with a cup of tea! Scottish breakfast is my favorite!

Amanda Flower, a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words.  In addition to being an author, Amanda is librarian in Northeast Ohio. Flowers and Foul Play is the first novel in her Magic Garden Mystery Series set in Scotland.

Amanda is giving away a copy of FLOWERS AND FOUL PLAY to one lucky person who leaves a comment here. Giveaway closes at midnight eastern time on Tuesday.

Irish Cheesecake

Well, I sort of promised you an Irish cheesecake, after I made a hazelnut one recently. I also mentioned that almost every recipe I found included Bailey’s Irish Cream, which I’ve never been a big fan of (it has a bit of chocolate syrup in it, and I find myself wishing they’d just stuck to the Irish whiskey flavor), but it seems to proclaim “Irish!” to the world.

The nice twist to this recipe is that it uses crumbled Irish shortbread cookies (which I posted here last October) for the crust, so you get a double hit of Irish.

Irish Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust

Crust:

3 cups Irish shortbread crumbs
3 Tblsp melted unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan (especially the sides, so the cake won't stick).

Mix the crumbs and melted butter, than press the mixture into the pan. Bake for about five minutes or until the crust just begins to brown. Remove from oven, let cool, then chill.

Filling:

3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Beat the mixture well, for about four minutes. Add the Irish Cream.

Pour the filling mixture into the chilled crust and bake for about 80 minutes. The center should still be a bit jiggly.

Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside to cool slowly (helps to prevent cracking).

And there you have it! A handy recipe for Saint Patrick’s Day.

And here's the source for all that butter
and cream cheese in the recipe--part of
the dairy herd at a farm where I stayed a
a couple of years ago. I loved to watch
the whole milking process from my window.

I find myself in a weird position about coming books. I expect to publish three more (plus a novella, I think) before the end of 2018, and the next County Cork book will be out in January 2019. But the only one of all of those that has both a a title and a cover is Murder at the Mansion, the first of my new Victorian Village series, coming from St. Martin's in June. Here's what it will look like:

Don't worry--I'll tell you more about it as the date gets closer.

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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