Tag Archives: Shortbread

Star Anise Wild Orange Shortbread

Star Anise Wild Orange Shortbread Cookies

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Joseph’s family traditionally had Walkers Shortbread for Christmas. Our kids look forward to them every year.

When I was in High School I had a friend who traditionally made Shortbread in November for Christmas, so I have always been intimidated to try it. I can’t believe I didn’t research it until now.

Shortbread is generally associated with and originated in Scotland, but due to its popularity it is also made in the remainder of the United Kingdom, and similar biscuits are also made in Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. The Scottish version is the best-known, and Walkers Shortbread is Scotland’s largest food exporter.

According to The History of Scottish Shortbread – Historic UK, “The story of shortbread begins with the medieval “biscuit bread”. Any leftover dough from bread making was dried out in a low oven until it hardened into a type of rusk: the word “biscuit” means “twice cooked”. Gradually the yeast in the bread was replaced by butter, and biscuit bread developed into shortbread.”

After researching I decided to play around and the results are a pleasant twist.

Ingredients

1 lb Unsalted Butter Softened
1 12/ cups Powdered Sugar
10-15 drops doTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil (1 tsp Orange LorAnn Candy Oil)
4-5 drops doTerra Star Anise Essential Oil (1/4 tsp Anise LorAnn Candy Oil)
5 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream together butter, powdered sugar, and oils. Add in flour 1/2 cup at a time. The last cup and 1/2 you will need to knead in by hand.

Mixing Shortbread

Dust a pastry sheet with powder sugar. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.

Rolling out shortbread

Cut out dough. Traditionally it is cut in circles, rectangles, or squares. You may poke holes with a fork for decoration. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the edges.

Short Bread Baking

Sweet & Spicy Apple Bars

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I love playing with recipes. Several years ago we went to Gardener Village in West Jordan, Utah and one of the shops had Carmel Apple Bars. This is a play off of that bar. The sweet is the caramel sauce and the spicy is the cinnamon and clove essential oil. There is a tart note that  comes for the Granny Smith Apple. This is a playful and tasty dessert.

CRUST

1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
4 cups Flour

Combine sugar and flour in bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until crumbly. Press 3/4 of the mixture into a cookie sheet.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

FILLING

1/2 cup Water
1 cup Brown Sugar
2-3 drops doTerra Cinnamon
1-2 drops doTerra Clove Bud
6 Granny Smith Apples (approximately 3 cups)

Peel, slice, and cut apples. In a medium sauce pan combined water, sugar, and essential oils. Bring to a boil. Stir in Apples. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining  crust.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until lightly brown.

Cool for 10 – 15 minutes and top with caramel sauce. Use your favorite or 1/2 of the recipe below.

Simple Carmel Sauce

1 cup Butter
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. On medium heat bring to a boil, stirring continually. Boil for 5 mins until thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.