Catching Up -- bonus Shortbread recipe

Catching UP and Chase Family Shortbread Recipe

Have had my nose into the year-end bookkeeping all week and done very little toward paper books. The good news is everything reconciled.

No books went to press this week.

No galleys went out.

No corrections were done.

BUT the accountant now has what she needed, so I am a happy camper. Will be making my shortbread this afternoon. The dough is in the refrigerator, just waiting for me. Will be taking some holiday family time over the next week or so, then get busy on getting people paid.

Chase Family Shortbread Recipe

It's 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter and one part sugar. This recipe is for a small batch of cookies and the one I use for experimenting but it doubles or triples with no troubles. Just maintain the ratio.

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

3/4 cup flour, sifted

1/4 cup superfine sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup room temperature Land 'O Lakes unsalted butter

1/2 cup black walnut pieces

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Work in the butter with a fork or pastry cutter until the dough has the consistency of short crust.

Pulsing in a food processor will work also.

Sprinkle a board or your counter top lightly with flour. Scatter walnut pieces over the flour. Turn the dough onto the board and knead until it's smooth and all walnut pieces are absorbed. Refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours or overnight.

You should have approximately 8 ounces of dough. Divide the dough into four equal portions for large cookies or eight equal portions for small cookies and shape into balls.

For consistency you might want to pull out your kitchen scales.

Place each dough ball on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam and flatten them with the bottom of a glass, or your thumb, to about 1/4 inch thickness. Prick with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 30 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown slightly. Allow the cookies to cool and solidify on the baking sheet, before trying to move them or they will crumble.