Shortbread Cookies

I normally choose desserts based around chocolate, and lots of it. One exception, however, is shortbread. I love the crumbly texture and hint of salt, and nothing can beat a box of Walker shortbread and a hot cup of tea on a cold day. I recently had to choose something to make for a bake sale, and these won out.



I used Ina Garten's recipe, which turned out great. I doubled the salt she called for, and followed her tip to chill the cut out dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes before popping them in the oven.

I don't normally like icing (too sweet for me), but as these were going to a bake sale, I figured I should make them as pretty as possible. I used this icing recipe from AllRecipes.com, but used lemon extract instead of almond. (I doubled the amounts to go with Ina's cookie recipe.)



I topped each cookie generously with sprinkles before the icing had time to set, and used sandwich baggies tied with ribbon to wrap each one. They looked great, and I have to say, even with my chocolate bias, tasted pretty good too.