Mrs. Rogers Shortbread Cookies

The Christmas version

These are inspired by Mrs. Rogers, a very nice lady who used to bring these to work at Christmas time.  I obtained the recipe from her, they are buttery and lovely, and the icing is perfect.

One year, she brought in several dozen, and a doc at work sort of ate the whole tin, and everyone wanted to kill him.

Mrs. Rogers Shortbread

She gave us the recipe written on a little scrap of paper:

1 pound butter (soften)
4 cups flour
1 cup icing sugar minus 1 tbsp
2 tbsp brown sugar

bake at 275 F for 40-45 min

That's all she wrote!

Details and hints:

one pound of butter is one big rectangle from the grocery store 473 g. I leave it on the counter all day to soften.

In my version there is also a pinch of salt, a quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Directions: Beat butter using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add icing sugar, brown sugar, salt and vanilla, then add flour by half cupfulls till mixed. 

Chill it a bit in the fridge 20-30 minutes, then rub a little flour onto the table or counter (or sometimes I use one of those thin plastic cutting boards) flatten it a bit with your hands, then flour the rolling pin and roll out to shortbread thickness (about 1/4 inch), use the cookie cutters to make perfect circles. 

As she says, bake 275 F for 40-45 min. If they are thinner, bake for less time. I bake on parchment paper.  I don't like to let them brown at all- just when they are starting to look set and the bottoms are light golden, I take them out, and cool on the sheets.

Then there is the icing which I think is mandatory. Her recipe was passed on verbally:

Icing sugar - about a cup and then 2 spoonfuls of milk and mix- add more milk by drops until it is spreadable (but not runny). Wait until the cookies are cool. Put about 1/2 tsp on top of the cookie and then smooth out with the back of a small spoon. It will settle and smooth out.

Decorate right away with candied cherries cut in 1/4s or 1/8ths (as she did) or nonpareils (which I sometimes do, as in the picture) or more colorful icing decorations like snowflakes or what have you. If you're going to decorate the cookies with colored decorative icing, I'd do that after the first white icing is dry. I got the nonpareils from Dean and Deluca.

Let the decorated icing dry overnight. Makes about 4 dozen. Keeps for a few weeks in a tin, or for a few hours, depending on who's around to eat them.