Mama's little baby loves shortnin shortnin..

Mama's little baby loves shortnin shortnin.. Mama's little baby loves shortnin bread. Keep reading.

This will be the first in a long line of Christmas Cookie recipes that I am posting over the next 2-3 weeks time. Every year I make a list of recipes that I will be using, I purchase the ingredients, and I make hundreds of cookies. It's one of my favorite things to do. I like to make Christmas baskets and/or Hanukkah baskets, full of cookies and candies. I deliver them to friends and family. It's fun, and it's something I know that I can do to bring a smile to faces of people I know. I also am interested in giving them out to people in need, and hope to be able to do some of that this year as well. I work in the non-profit field, where I am able to gleen information about needy families, but I don't want to be intrusive, so I may give the cookies to community centers that serve low income clients instead. That way people can choose from them and take them home.

Here is the first recipe. It's one that I found online several years ago, for a simple shortbread cookie, and I must say that it is the most delicious shortbread cookie I've ever made. It's so simple that it's ridiculous. When I first found it, I said... "no, that couldn't be all there is to it", but it was, and it's so good. The title of the cookie is "Vel's shortbread recipe", and it belonged to a woman's grandmother. I don't know much more than that, but I could never change the title of it, because Grandma's are awesome. So here's to Vel, wherever she is, and I thank her for the great cookies.


Vel's Shortbread Cookies



INGREDIENTS

2 cups butter
1 cup brown sugar
5 cups sifted all-purpose flour


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Sir in flour, and knead by hand until dough comes together. At first the dough will seem dry and crumbly but don't give up, keep mixing. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut with cookie cutters or press dough into shortbread molds. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on the size of your cookies. Do not let them brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.


Sometimes I frost these and decorate them, but other times we eat them just as they are, because the cookie has a lovely light butterscotch taste to it, from the brown sugar.