Celitc Shortbread for Christmas

Slainte,

Thought you might like to try a very simple recipe that is very traditional for Christmas in Scotland. We have, however, put our family "twist" on the recipe. It is a great treat with a warm glass of tea! Here we go!

Ingredients:

1 lb. of real butter (Dairy Farmers of America Unite!)

5 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

2 tsp of Almond Extract

Some colorful Red and Green sprinkles for Christmas

Recipe:

Make sure the butter is soft. Just set it out on a counter for a couple of hours prior to baking.

Mix the butter and sugar throughly with a mixer. Add the almond extract and mix again just long enough to mix the extract. Start adding flour 1/2 cup at a time. Mix thoroughly. After about 3 cups of flour, your mixer may not be able to hold up, so you will have to mix by hand. When you are down to 1 1/2 cups, pour the mixture out on a clean, lightly floured hard surface and finish the process by kneeding the flour in. It is truly a labor of love!

Once your batter is thoroughly pounded to death, it is ready to bake. Place it in an ungreased, unfloured pan to a depth of 1/2". We use glass, square pans (9"x13") a lot. We also use aluminum pie pans (just for a different look!) Take a fork and poke holes all the way to the bottom of the pan. This will prevent bubbles from forming in the batter. It doesn't ruin the taste, just the presentation. Sprinkle your batter with the sugar sprinkles of choice. Bake at 350 deg. for 10 minutes, then bake at 300 deg for 30-40 minutes. When done, you'll have a lightly browned, sugar cookie type look. Cool. Eat.

The thinner the batter, the drier the cookie will get. So it becomes a matter of taste on how dry you want the batter. Dry also makes it a bit easier to dunk the cookie!

Hope you enjoy this wonderful treat.