food

Can you believe that up until last year I had never made shortbread before? It was something that I guess I never really thought about baking because I never cared for the store-bought shortbread that I had tasted in the past.

I purchased this amazing little recipe book called the Ultimate Appetizer Ideabook. Since I adore anything bite sized and love creating party platters this book quickly became one of my favorites. It has 225 simple recipes with lots of tasty photos. One of the recipes inside is for shortbread, so I decided to give it a try last summer – with my own spin on it of course!

They were delicious! Nothing like those hard and barely inedible versions I had tasted from the store. These are buttery, savory, crumbly, and go oh-so well paired with meats, cheeses, and fruits on a snack platter.

I served them last August alongside some red onion jam and cheesy green onion scones  for our picnic brunch that I created during our family Eclipse viewing up in the vineyard. We noshed on tasty bites and sipped on sparkling cider and mimosas while we watched in awe as totality hit and we viewed the once-in-a-live-time phenomenon.

About Shortbread:

For these shortbread cookies I wanted them to be a bit sweet and have savoriness to them. I made the basic shortbread recipe and then added chopped up dried apricots and freshly chopped rosemary. The nice thing I’ve learned about shortbread is that you can pre-make up a few batches with different flavors and then freeze them into logs and store. When you have last minute guests or just feel like baking something quick you can remove them from the freezer, slice, and bake!

Apricot Rosemary Shortbread

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Serves: 8 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 softened unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions

In a large bowl mix the softened butter until creamy. In a smaller bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in the apricots and rosemary. Slowly mix in with butter until dough begins to form. Place the dough onto plastic wrap and and shape into a log that is approximately 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in the plastic wrap and place in the freezer for a miniumum of 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough from the freezer and slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until shortbread is golden brown. Cool them completely on the baking sheets before transferring to an airtight container.

Apricot Rosemary Shortbread was last modified: February 10th, 2019 by Melissa Kaylene

~Melissa

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Remember that solar eclipse last month? It was a pretty big deal. 😉 That day was pretty memorable for me. We spent the day up where my husband works – just the 5 of us. We were in the path of totality. It was an amazing experience. It happened mid morning, so I went ahead and packed a brunch for all of us to enjoy. I packed meats, cheeses, fruit, savory shortbread, homemade scones and red onion jam. I had never made onion jam before, but I had recently purchased the Ultimate Appetizer Ideabook from a local store and it sounded so good I had to try it – with my own spin on it of course.

With busy summer afternoons I tend to lean towards making snack platters more frequently than heavy meals. I love throwing together some meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts, etc.  and arranging them on a pretty platter to create a tasty meal that we can all nibble at.

After a long day spent outdoors in the sun, my family always enjoys winding down inside watching a movie and while snacking on a platter. I don’t normally go out and buy anything special for them, it’s just things that I already have at home to eat.