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1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter* on medium speed for about 30 seconds. You may need to scrape down the sides of your bowl with a spatula at least once.
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2. In a separate bowl, sift your icing sugar, cornstarch and flour together.
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3. Add your sifted ingredients to the bowl with the butter, and mix on low speed, just until all ingredients are incorporated.
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4. Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place it on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
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5. Take your dough out of the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then roll out the dough further if you need to (I roll mine between two sheets of parchment). Remove the top sheet of parchment and cut out your cookie shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place cookie shapes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll dough scraps and repeat.
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6. Place cookie dough shapes back in the fridge to chill for approximately one hour.
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7. Preheat your oven to 350 F or 176 C.
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8. Bake cookies for 15 minutes in the middle rack of your preheated oven. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie (the larger the cookie, the longer you will need to bake it). Look for the middle of the cookie to no longer look 'wet'.**
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9. Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate with royal icing! (See my TastyKitchen recipe box for my icing recipe).
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Notes:
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*It really is important to make sure your butter is soft, or at room temperature. I let mine sit out overnight, but depending on where you live, you may only need to let it sit out only for a few hours
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**Every oven is different, so I bake mine for approximately 15 minutes, but you may need more or less time, depending on your oven. I find if the edges are golden, for this cookie, it's a bit over baked, and the texture of the cookie won't be as 'melt-in-your-mouth'. The more you bake your shortbread, the crispier it will be.
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***Yes, 1 whole cup of cornstarch. This ingredient is what makes the cookies have that 'melt-in-your-mouth' texture.
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- Using good quality ingredients will always make your baked goods taste better. In this recipe, the butter is the most important. I use the best butter I can find (where I live it's called Lactancia).
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- This recipe can be doubled.
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- You can easily play with the flavor of this shortbread by adding chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup for this recipe), or a teaspoon of any extract of your choice, such as vanilla or almond. To add a citrus zing, add 1 tablespoon of lemon or orange zest. Have fun experimenting!
