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Yesterday, I gave you a traditional shortbread cookies recipe-today, I'm going to give you a shortbread to perk up your taste buds.
I first made this recipe years ago for a party and I didn't think I'd have enough when the guests arrived. I asked the official taste-tester (my husband) to give one a try, and based on his reaction, I felt I had to try them myself. That was my mistake.
These little bites are incredibly addictive and I always have to put them out of sight when I make them. I only make them for parties because I would just eat them all. They are not the most-beautiful cookies, so you might have to prompt people into trying them, but once the first guest has popped one into their mouths, the rest are gone pretty soon.
These are another great item to give as gifts or take to parties. They really are quite spicy though, so judge accordingly. There is also a lot of salt in this recipe, so feel free to cut back the amount.
Spicy Shortbread Bites
The recipe says it makes 140 bites, but I've never had even close to that many. I get more like 4 or 5 dozen
2 tablespoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/8 teaspoons cayenne
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl whisk together paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon cayenne and set aside.
2. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl whisk together remaining 1/2 tsp salt, remaining 1/8 tsp cayenne, flour, curry powder, and cumin. Beat flour mixture flour mixture into butter until just combined.
3. On a lightly floured surface knead dough about 8 times, or until it just comes together. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. On a sheet of wax paper roll each piece of dough into a 3/4-inch-thick log. Sprinkle one quarter of spice mixture along the length of each log and roll in mixture to coat completely.
4. Wrap each log in wax paper. Freeze dough just until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Shortbread dough may be made one week ahead and frozen. Before proceeding with recipe, remove dough from freezer and let stand about 15 minutes, or until slightly softened to facilitate slicing.
5. Remove logs carefully from wax paper and slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds 1/4 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until browned lightly.
6. Gently loosen shortbread bites with a spatula from baking sheet (do not remove from sheet) and cool completely. Carefully transfer shortbread bites to a serving dish (they will be fragile).
From the December 1994 issue of Gourmet
Difficulty level: Easy
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