Grandma's Shortbread

My grandmother was an amazing baker.  From pies to cookies to frozen treats, there was nothing she couldn't make and make better than anyone else.  (Though there was that one time she accidentally used salt instead of sugar for a lemon meringue pie!)  Whenever she came to visit us from Canada, she would always come with goodies, and always baked something while with us.  The best was at Christmas, when she would bring her shortbread cookies. 

Now, some people think they have had good shortbread, but I'm telling you, nothing compares to what my grandmother baked up.  All of us kids anticipated the arrival of the shortbread cookies, always in a special jar that I so wish I had now.  It was a clear glass jar with a lid that screwed off in this entirely satisfying smooshing way.  Her shortbread was so soft and melting, it was like a buttery-sugary dream dissolving on your tongue.

My grandma passed away a few years ago after battling valiantly to recover from a terrible car accident she and my mother were in the day after Christmas in 2000.  For a little while, it seemed like she was going to come back to us completely like she was before, but old age got the better of her, and she died at the age of 92.  I wish that I had taken more time to listen to her stories and learn more about her.  I miss her a lot.

What I do have is a cookbook that my mom found last year, really a folder of recipes not organized in any way.  There are clippings from magazines, hand written notes with incomplete recipes, newspaper bits.  We had hoped that somewhere in that book would be her recipe for shortbread, which no one in the family had ever gotten from her.  No such luck.  There are a few other special recipes in there that I will try out and pass on to my siblings, and I love looking at her handwriting.  She had beautiful penmanship, and even in her older age when her writing became more shaky, it is still a pleasure to look at and admire. 

I had given up hope of ever finding her recipe, when a few days before Christmas this year, I was looking through my mother's recipe folder she gave me a couple years ago, and out slipped a piece of paper.  I think my breath literally caught in my chest when I picked it up, and read across the top, "Melting Shortbread."  Here it was, in my mother's recipes all along!  How I missed it the number of times I've leafed through that book, I'll never know.  I guess it was just waiting for the right time to present itself.  I didn't have time as I'd hope to bake some and surprise my family for Christmas (of the woes of retail at the holidays!) but after receiving 5 new cookie sheets for Christmas, I decided that was sign enough to get started!

On Saturday I busted out the ingredients, and got to work.  I've never made shortbread before, but I knew that you shouldn't overwork the ingredients because it makes the shortbread crumbly.  I creamed the butter, mixed in the icing sugar, and was feeling pretty good.  Then the flour and corn starch went in.  That's a lot of dry ingredients.  Hmmmm, am I missing something?  No, double checked with other recipes on the Internet, it seems right.  So I start mixing, thinking it will become a dough.  But no, it stayed pretty coarse and well, dry.  Finally, Kevin suggests just trying to ball it up with my hands and see if it works.  By this time, it's almost kickoff for the Seahawks (HUZZAH!) game, so I ball it up, wrap it in saran wrap, and stick it in the fridge. 

After the game (BEAST MODE!!!!!) I pull it out.  Hard as a rock.  There is no rolling this puppy out!  So I decide, well, let's just make the most of this, even though I was pretty positive I had ruined the whole batch.  I cut the ball in half, then chop off pieces to bake up.  Ugliest shortbread, ever.  I had serious doubts this would be okay.  But then something wonderful happened.  I baked them for about 10 minutes, and after cooling for a few minutes, tried one out.  Oh, I know this taste, this wonderful texture, this is what love from my grandmother felt like!  They are even better today.  I've eaten 6 or 7.  Oops.  I don't care really, I'm just so happy that I found the recipe, and with a little practice, I think I'll be able to come pretty close to my grandma's perfection.

Grandma's Melting Shortbread:

3 cups flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 cup icing sugar
1 pound butter, room temperature

Cream softened butter, add icing sugar and blend well.  Sift flour and corn starch, mix with butter sugar mixture.  Don't beat too much, as shortbread will break after baking.  Make into a ball or log, chill for an hour in refrigerator.  Use teaspoon or cut off rounds, place on cookie sheet.  Dip a fork in water and press down to flatten.  Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Enjoy!