Buttery Orange Shortbread

All week I’ve been thinking about what I was going to share with you in this post.  Of course, now that I am sitting here, I am drawing a complete blank.  We did a bunch of different things in the past 7 days.  We saw the boys (not once, but twice!), took a quick midweek trip to Pennsylvania to see my Dad get an award (congrats Dad!), went bowling (next time the girls will win every game!), and even went for a hike (yes!).  In between all of that, we squeezed in a few episodes of Battlestar Galactica.   Now, before you think I am crazy for falling into the sci-fi drama trap, I should tell you that we are only watching it because of a skit in Season 2 of Portlandia. 

If you have started watching Season 2 on Netflix, then you will know exactly what I am talking about.  If not, sorry.  Anyway, Scott added Battlestar Galactica to our queue and once we started watching it, we were totally sucked in.  Just like in Portlandia, but minus the missing the birthday party, skipping work, and having the power turned off parts.  And we haven’t gone off looking for Ron, but then again, we haven’t watched all of the episodes...I’ll keep you posted. 

Now that you think I am a total TV junkie since all I have been writing about it TV for the last few posts, let’s move on to the real reason why you are reading this:  I have the most buttery, crispy, and completely addictive shortbread recipe to share with you.  These aren’t just good.  They are amazing.  As an added bonus, they come together with minimal fuss.  Practically the only thing that kept me from eating the whole pan by myself the first time I made them was that I had mailed some to my Aunt Marcia in Florida.  She told me that she would mail me back the empty box so I could send her some more.  They are that delicious!  I challenge you to eat just one. 

Notes:
The easiest way to line a pan with foil is start by molding the foil around the outside of the pan.  To do this, flip the pan over, lay the foil on the “bottom” of the pan, and press the foil around the edges of the pan, crimping it at the corners.  Then pull the molded foil off the outside of the pan, tuck it into the inside of the pan, and adjust it, as needed.  It makes it easier to get the foil into the corners without poking holes in them.  The baking powder was too light for my scale to measure, so I haven’t included a weight for it.  I used a glass pan to bake these.  If you use a metal pan, you may need to shorten the baking time.  You don’t need to grease the foil/pan for these cookies.  These shortbreads are cut in the pan while they are still warm.  Once they are fully cooled, you can transfer them from the baking dish into an airtight container.  The easiest way to evenly cut the shortbread into 24 1x2-inch bars is to cut the entire bar in half, then each half into halves again (3 cuts into 4 large bars).  Rotate the pan and cut in half again, then each half into halves again, and then each of the 4 bars in half again (7 cuts, yielding 24 1x2-inch bars).

Adapted from Rosie's Bakery Chocolate-Packed Jam-Filled Butter-Rich No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book

Ingredients:
1½ cups + 1 tablespoon (209 g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon (4 g) salt
⅛ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup (1½ sticks; 165 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
7 tablespoons (96 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (8 g) orange zest from 2 medium-sized oranges

Yields 24 1x2-inch bars

Sift, Cream, Add, Press, Bake, Cut:
Place a rack at the middle level of the oven, and preheat to 325°F.  Line an 8x8-inch pan with a piece of foil, leaving some overhang at two of the sides so it is easy to lift the bars out of the pan after they have cooled, and set aside.  In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the zest and vanilla, and beat until incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl and beater and add all of the flour.  Beat until the flour is incorporated, but do not beat the mixture so much that it comes together in one lump (i.e., the mixture should be crumbly, but with no flour streaks).  Dump the mixture into the prepared pan, and evenly press it out using your hands or the bottom of a wide measuring cup.  Prick the pressed dough all over with a fork or docker.  Bake the shortbread at 325°F for 37-42 minutes or until it is a light golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  With the shortbread still in the pan, cut it with a thin, sharp knife into bars that are 1x2-inches, wiping any crumbs off the knife in between cuts.  Allow the cut bars to finish cooling in the pan.  Once cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature between pieces of wax paper. 

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