Tangy Surprise Shortbread
"Submitted for RSC #9. I used the base from another shortbread recipe that I knew worked and went from there. I really liked the orange flavor and fruits in this. This shortbread is a soft one not the dry crumbly kind. If you've never made shortbread before the dough may seem dry to you but if you press it firmly into the pan and prick it all over the fork it will hold together. It ends up kinda like a bar cookie. The glaze is sweet so I made it optional."
photo by Pamela
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 15
- Serves:
-
48
ingredients
-
Shortbread
- 1 -2 orange, juice and zest of (1/4 cup juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
- 1 tablespoon Cointreau liqueur or 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
- 1⁄4 cup dried apricot, diced
- 1⁄4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
- 1 cup butter, melted (no substitutions)
- 1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1⁄2 cup white chocolate chips
-
Optional Glaze
- 1 1⁄2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon Cointreau liqueur or 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
- 2 -3 tablespoons orange juice, fresh squeezed
directions
-
Shortbread:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl or cup stir together diced dried apricots, dried cranberries, cointreau and 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice. Let sit for 15 minutes or more.
- Melt butter in microwave.
- In a large mixing bowl combine melted butter and 1 tablespoon of orange zest. With an electric mixer on medium speed beat in brown sugar,powdered sugar and vanilla.
- On low speed beat in flours 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the sides down after each addition until mixture resembles soft crumbs.
- Drain dried fruits and reserve liquid for glaze if desired.
- Stir dried fruits and white chocolate chips into the shortbread dough.
- Press dough evenly into an ungreased 15x10 cookie sheet with 1/2" sides. Prick the top all over with a fork.
- Place on the middle rack in preheated oven and bake for 18-22 minutes until firm to the touch and very lightly browned around the edges.
- Let cool 5 minutes. Cut into 48 squares with a sharp knife while it's still warm.
-
Optional Glaze:
- In a small bowl stir together sifted powdered sugar, orange zest, cointreau and fresh squeezed orange juice until a thick pourable consistency is reached.
- Pour glaze over cooled cut shortbread still in the pan and spread in a thin even layer with a spatula. Let glaze harden.
- Lift out squares with a butter knife inserted under the edge of them.
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Reviews
-
A great recipe, and a great base for vanilla orange ice cream! I didn't make the optional glaze and just served this with some homemade ice cream. It was a huge hit, and I will certainly be making this again! Thanks! -
I was very excited to try this recipe because of all the other ratings. It got mixed reviews at our house. It wasn't flaky, like I expect a shortbread to be~it was way too heavy. We also thought the dough was pretty dry. I do alot of baking and this just wasn't a recipe that I would make again. -
I just loved this citrusy shortbread! Its flavor is not too sweet, texture very good, and proportions of fruit and white chocolate excellent. The recipe is very well-written and easy to follow. I added a little of extra flour to the dough and skipped the optional glaze. These pretty & delicious shortbread cookies will definitely be added to my annual Christmas goodie platter. Good luck in the contest!
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I made these on a sunday when I needed to satisfy my baking benge. I'm really glad I did. This had a nice buttery sweet taste and was great served with my afternoon tea. -
Loved the flavor combinations here. The brown sugar added a new richness to the cookie that you down find in most shortbreads. The additions of white chocolate, apricots and Cointreau were just delicious and we hard a hard time not slurping up the boozy fruit before the dish was made. Needless to say, we used the drained liquid in the glaze. Though we loved the cookie, we did think it was a little dense because of the melted butter and missed the flakiness that on finds in a traditional shortbread. A minor point and one that did not lessen the quick dispatch of this treat. Thanks for such a creative and pleasurable bar!
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm not as active here anymore, but you can find me playing at the new recipezazz.com. I'm not a great photographer, but I love to take food photos with Freddy Cat to bring a smile to people's day. I love to cook and share good food with other people. I have a very large collection of cookbooks. I used to enjoy being able to look up recipes on Zaar by ingredients I had on hand. I miss the Zaar tag game community. Everyone was so nice, and it was super fun. Ah, the good ol' days.
