Sunny Citrus

Last month I had a giveaway for Baking Basics and Beyond cookbook, that Becca from Cookie Jar Treats won. We decided to pick a recipe and bake it "together". We both scanned the book and quickly settled on a recipe with bright refreshing flavors- Sunny Citrus Bars. Since both our mothers love citrus, we made these for them on Mother's Day. I made a full pan and presented half of them to my mother and the other half to my mother-in-law. It's the perfect tangy treat for sharing. 

Sunny citrus bars are essentially lemon bars with a shortbread crust, but the filling includes tart lemon juice and zest as well and sweet and aromatic orange juice and zest. So rather than a zingy filling, these are a little on the sweet side, especially since they're topped with a powdered sugar glaze after they've baked and cooled. They weren't as orangey as I thought they'd be, nor were they as lemony, but they were a nice balance in between. The filling was a little gooey, the crust a little crunchy. All in all, they were quite good and would satisfy any citrus craving. 

As far as lemon bars go, I think I prefer one with more pucker and these meyer lemon-lime bars are my still my favorite. I did, however, LOVE the shortbread crust and would definitely make that part of the recipe again. In fact I caught myself cutting off the edges of the crust "to make them prettier and more presentable" just so I could nibble on the buttery, crumbly, crunchy base. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Sunny Citrus Bars from Baking Basics and Beyond
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For The Crust: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup cold butter

For The Filling: 

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

For The Glaze: 

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 Tablespoons orange juice

Heat oven oven to 350 degrees F. with oven rack in the middle. Lightly spray bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

For The Crust: Mix the flour and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces. Press crust evenly in bottom and slightly up sides of baking pan. (Mixture may appear a little dry and crumbly- this is okay.)

Bake 20-25 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. 

For The Filling: Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs using wire whisk. When smooth, stir in butter, both lemon and orange juice, then stir in both lemon and orange zests. Mix well and pour over the hot crust. 

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the filling is set in the center and a knife comes out clean, although it will still be be wet. Cool on a wire cooling rack to room temperature. 

For The Glaze: Combine powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoons orange juice in a small bowl and beat with a small whisk until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add more juice. Spread glaze over cooled bars. Allow glaze to set up then store bars in the refrigerator. 

Head on over to Becca's blog and check out her citrus bars. And while you're there, leave her a note of congratulations, she graduated from high school this past weekend! Congratulations Becca!

Slice And Bake Shortbread & A Pregnancy Update

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend. I was going to share some yummy pancakes with you before the weekend, but as you can see I didn't quite make it. No worries though because these shortbread cookies more than make up for it. I got this recipe from Coleen's Recipes and she declared them "absolutely perfect".

These cookies were delicious, melt-in-your mouth and so buttery. The full recipe called for a full pound of butter and that scared the bujeesus out of me so I cut the recipe in half. The halved recipe (below) still made a substantial amount of cookies but if you want/need more, then just double it. The fun thing about this cookie is that you can roll the chilled dough in non-pareils, or colored sugar and coordinate with any holiday or celebration that you need. I used blue sprinkles for half of the dough and rolled the other half in raw sugar. It's not necessary but it adds a nice textural element to the tender cookie and it makes them extra pretty. The dough can be made ahead of time, then when you're ready for them, just slice and bake.

Now on to the pregnancy update. I reached 20 weeks last Wednesday and had an anatomy scan of the bambino. Of course he was curled up and sleeping the entire time so we didn't see much. The baby's growth is right on target, it's brain is growing and the heart was beating away. He's about 10 inches long and weighs about 12 ounces. I also felt the little one kick this weekend for the first time, which was quite the wonderful Mother's Day gift. It's such a strange, but incredibly awesome feeling. I've said it once and I'll say it again, but I am so blessed to be where I am. For another update, see below...

Ultimate Shortbread Cookies adapted from Coleen's Recipes

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• 1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• non-pareils, coarse sugar, or chopped nuts (optional)

In a stand mixer, beat the room temperature butter, sugar and extracts until the mixture is light and fluffy (2-3 minutes on high).

Add the flour, half a cup at a time, beating well between each addition.

Roll the dough a log and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then chill until very firm or up to three days.

After "logs" are very firm, roll them in sprinkles or nuts (optional) and slice into ¼" slices. Bake on ungreased baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes Cool on baking rack.

Makes about 24 cookies. Recipe can be doubled.

For the winners of the Simply Suppers giveaway, go HERE.

A Special Spring Dessert

This pretty and pink dessert was lovingly made for my mother-in-laws' birthday a few weeks ago. I don't think she'd appreciate me telling you how old she turned, so I won't :-) But I can say she is as sophisticated as this dessert looks. The moment I saw this recipe on Coleen's Recipes, I knew I'd be making it for her birthday. It's light and refreshing and it has my MIL's name written all over it. Even the name- Strawberry Chantilly- sounds like her. I guess you'd have to know her to know that, so just take my word for it. If you're looking for something unique and different, this is the dessert for you.

I keep calling this a dessert, and not a pie or cake, or something else, because that's what it is. It's almost like a mousse, because it has whipped cream folded into it, but it's light and fluffy from the meringue as well. It's a frozen treat that can be made in a 9x13-inch pan or in a springform pan as I have done. I got that idea from Coleen, and I think it makes for a prettier presentation. It's cool and creamy, sweet and bursting with strawberry flavor. All the while, contrasting with the buttery and nutty shortbread crust. If you're not a fan of nuts, you could leave them out. It slices nicely straight from the freezer too. If it's too hard, just let it rest on the counter for a few minutes.

One of the best things about this dessert, other than the taste, is how quickly it comes together. You dump the ingredients in the mixer and let it do all the work for you. This would be a great make ahead dessert for dinner parties, or for Mother's Day (May 8th), leaving you with more time to spend with your guests and loved ones. A simple garnish of fresh strawberries or plump berries dunked in dark chocolate compliment this nicely and make it extra special. Now that I think of it, I think almonds in place of the pecans and raspberries instead of strawberries would be just as lovely.

Strawberry Chantilly slightly adapted from Coleen's Recipes

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For the Crust:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup cold unsalted butter
• ½ cup chopped pecans

For the Filling:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 drops red food coloring, optional

For the crust: Cut the cold butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly, then stir in the chopped pecans. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish and bake at 300 for 20 minutes (or press mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a springform pan and bake at 325 for 25 minutes). Set the pan on a rack to cool completely before filling with strawberry chantilly. I put mine in the refrigerator to cool faster while I made the filling.

For the Filling: Pulse the strawberries in a food processor til mostly pureed but still a little lumpy. Place the pureed strawberries, the egg whites, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl of your electric stand mixer. Beat on high for ten minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and mix for a few more seconds till the color is fully incorporated.

In a different bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until you get stiff peaks. Gently fold, by hand, the whipped cream into the strawberry meringue mixture.

Pour the filling into the baked and cooled crust and cover well. Freeze for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Slice and serve frozen chantilly with additional strawberries, if desired.

Happy Birthday Nonie!

The Best I've Ever Had

I hope you'll forgive me for being absent for almost 2 weeks. It seems the time is just flying past me and before I know it, it's been 3 days, then 7, then 10 days and those m&m's cookies are still at the top of my blog. Even though they were delicious and colorful, I was getting tired of looking at them. How 'bout you? I had great intentions of updating sooner but this baby is sucking all the energy out of me. But I'm not complaining because I know how blessed I am to be carrying this miracle. All that means is that you'll hear a little less from me. But when I do blog, I can promise you it will be something good. Really good, like these Meyer lemon-lime bars.

I was going to share with you the birthday cake that I made for my FIL a couple weekends ago, but I made these a few days ago and they were so good they jumped to the top of the list. I made these for a friend as a "thank you". My friend, Lori, brought over some homemade sausage and chicken gumbo and white rice after I got back home from my surgery. After eating take-out for over a week, a homemade meal is just what we needed. Thank you Lori! I know she's a huge lemon fan so I made these especialy for her. But they made so many that I kept a few for myself too :-)

I used 6 Meyer lemons in this recipe, but I didn't quite have enough juice to make the recipe so I added the zest and juice of 2 Persian limes as well. If you've never had Meyer lemons before, they are a hybrid fruit- a cross between lemons and mandarins and aren't quite as tart as regular lemons. They have almost a floral fragrance to them and their skin is smooth, shiny and darker in color. Because they aren't as tart, the addition of the limes perked them up quite nicely. In my opinion they were they perfect combination of puckery citrus and sweet.

I've never made lemon bars before because I've never had one that I really liked. I know that should have made me want to make my own, but I never did. I just assumed they were all lousy and they weren't something I really liked even though I wanted to. But I was so wrong about that theory because I loved these bars. I saw this recipe on girlichef's blog. She raved about these bars and it intrigued me to make them almost immediately. These are a little thicker than the average lemon bar, they have a buttery shortbread crust and the filling is almost like lemon curd, dusted with sugar. If it means anything at all, I haven't had much of a sweet tooth lately, but I had 5 of these! Please make these and totally disregard the fact that they have 3 sticks of butter, 6 eggs and over 3 cups of sugar in them. That's what makes them so good!

Meyer Lemon-Lime Bars adapted from Ina Garten and girlichef

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For the crust:

• 3/4 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

For the filling:

• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. finely grated Meyer lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp. finely grated lime zest
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice (I used 6 small Meyer lemons and 2 limes)
• 1 cup flour
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Butter a 9 x 13 x 2" baking pan, then line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. This is optional but will make removing the bars from the pan, much simpler.

For the crust: Cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter mixture until just mixed.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the bottom of prepared pan.

Chill the pan while the oven preheats to 350° F.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling: Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon and lime zest, lemon and lime juice, and flour.

Pour over the crust and bake for 35-45 minutes, until filling is set.

Let cool to room temperature. Cut into squares or triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Makes about 24 squares.

I just love this picture of my nosey little girl so I thought I'd share!

Appreciation Shortbread & A Giveaway

I am one lucky blessed woman. I honestly believe that I have the best husband in the world. Shouldn't we all feel that way about our significant others though? When I went out of town, this past weekend, Mr. H cleaned house, did laundry, put up the Christmas tree and did a little decorating just to help me out. Then yesterday he was scrubbing toilets! That means the world to me since I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately- there's just so much to do and very little time to do it all. I appreciate him and his thoughtfulness, but I don't always have the appropriate words to express how I feel. "I love you" and "thank you" don't always seem adequate.

To sweeten my "thank you's" I made him these cappuccino shortbread. He's a big coffee, chocolate and butter lover, and these filled the bill. This recipe comes from Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook. Lots of bloggers have been reviewing their cookbook and famous chocolate chip cookies, and I am no different. When someone offers me cookies and a cookbook for free, I don't hesitate to say yes :-) Thank you Tate's! These shortbread (pg.33) were crunchy, buttery, flaky and loaded with intense coffee flavor. The chocolate bits were just an added bonus. And they're pretty enough to share, so be sure to make an extra batch of this decadent treat.

I received 3 different flavors of cookies- Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia, and Oatmeal Raisin. These cookies are thin and crunchy, not soft and chewy. They made with salted butter, so there's a bit of salty and sweet in every bite. My MIL likes her cookies crunchy like this so I shared with her. We thought they had good flavor but wished for more chocolate chips. The oatmeal raisin (which I normally love) was my least favorite, because they weren't crisp or chewy, they were somewhere in between which was slightly off putting to me. The cookbook has lots of great sounding recipes and I look forward to making a few more things from it. My only complaint is that there aren't many pictures, but that's not a deal breaker for me. That just means I have to read the recipe and use my imagination.

Cappuccino Shortbread slightly adapted from Tate's Bake Shop

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• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate mini morsels

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients except for the chocolate in a mixing bowl. Mix until everything is combined. Add the chocolate and mix again to incorporate.

Put the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch square pan (I used a round pan). Pat down the mixture evenly.

Bake them for about 30 minutes or until they are brown on the edges.

Remove the pan from the oven. While still hot from the oven, cut the shortbread into desired sizes (I used a bench scraper). Let cool completely in pan.

Yield: 32 small or 16 larger pieces. (I got 12 generous triangles).

The generous folks at Tate's Bake Shop want to give one of you the same gift pack that I received. The giveaway is open to US residents only.

One winner will receive:

• A copy of Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King
• 3 boxes of Tate's Bake Shop cookies

To enter this giveaway:

• Please leave a comment here telling me how you show your appreciation for the people you care about.
• For a second entry, become a fan of Tate's Bake Shop on Facebook. Leave an additional (separate) comment for this.

This deal keeps getting sweeter. If you'd like to purchase any of Tate's baked goods, enter "cookies" at checkout to receive 15% off your purchase, through December 31, 2010.

You have until Friday, December 17th, then I'll pick a winner. Good luck!

Have a great weekend!

Butter Season

Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Butter. Yup, it's the fifth season, didn't you know that? Baking Season, also known as Butter Season is upon us. It's time to start baking your favorite holiday recipes and I hope with all of my heart, that those recipes start off with Real Butter. I can tell the difference between a product baked with butter or margarine, and butter is definitely my preference. I stockpile it here like it's going out of style. And so should you :-)

The wonderful butter lovin' people from Real Butter and Foodbuzz sent me some butter to try through the Tastemaker Program. I was excited to receive it because I love butter, if you haven't figured that out yet. But what I didn't expect was all the goodies that came along with it. They also sent me a holiday care package complete with a pound of unsalted butter, parchment paper, cookie cutters, a spatula, a cookie sheet and a few cute packaging items to wrap up my treats. Thank you so much!

I opened the package of butter and it smelled fresh and delicious, almost like a foodie perfume. I knew exactly what I was going to bake with my free butter-- Maple Pecan Shortbread. I originally saw it on Every Last Cookie and thought it was a gorgeous cookie and I wanted to eat them. I also wanted to make them for a special friend of mine, Debby from A Feast For The Eyes. I made these as a thank you gift for showing me around town in San Francisco at the Foodbuzz Fest last month. Thanks Debby!

I thought they were delicious, but they're a sophisticated kind of cookie, not the kind your kids are going to beg for. They're full of pecan flavor as there are ground pecans in the cookie as well as one crowning jewel right on top. I used local Texas-sized pecans from my in-laws' backyard so to me, they're extra special. They're not too sweet but they have an added crunch from the sprinkling of raw sugar on them before baking. Butter was the key in making them crisp and retaining their shape. The maple flavor was subtle, as I didn't use the maple extract, but they flavor intensified the next day. These are a perfect gift-giving cookie or for keeping at home and dunking in a mug of hot tea or coffee.

Maple-Pecan Shortbread

adapted from Martha's Cookies

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• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted Real Butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon pure maple extract (I omitted this)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2-3 dozen pecan halves (one half per cookie)
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Into a medium bowl, sift flours and salt. Whisk in 1/2 cup chopped pecans, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and light, about one minute.

Add the maple syrup, egg yolk, and extract (if using); beat on medium speed until well combined. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Dough should be smooth and pliable. Flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, 1 1/2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds using a two-inch cookie cutter; place one inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg; Place one pecan half in the center of the cookie. Sprinkle the entire surface with turbinado sugar.

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to four days.

Makes 2-3 dozen.

NOTE: Recipe says it makes 2 dozen, but I got 36 cookies. So plan accordingly so you have enough pecan halves to top each shortbread round.

Ooh, and today just happens to be National Cookie Day! Go bake something and don't forget the butter!

By The Pound

I do it every time. I can't help it. I go to Costco and I stock up on 3-pound containers of blueberries for $5.99. I love blueberries and it only seems logical to buy that many at that price. I even do it at the regular grocery store. If a pint of blueberries is $1.99, why not buy a 2-pound clam shell of them for $4.99? It only makes sense, right? Until you get home and you actually have to use them!

I usually keep the blueberries in the fridge and I'll bake with them, add them to cereal or smoothies, or throw them in pancake batter. Then a couple weeks go by and they get shoved to the back of the refrigerator and I forget about them. By the time that happens, I go into panic mode and I fear the blueberries are going to whither and wrinkle and turn to mush so I throw them into the freezer (still in the clam shell) where they'll last for the next few months or until I need to add them to the next recipe.

Sometimes I forget I have blueberries in the freezer and I buy more to stock my fridge. They start getting wrinkly and I panic to use them up- it's a vicious cycle, I'm telling you! That's where this recipe came into play. This tart consists of a thick buttery shortbread crust and it's topped with a perfectly simple custard and 3 cups of berries. I used blueberries, but the original recipe calls for raspberries- a mixture of both would be nice. The custard is creamy, the crust is firm but when the two meet up it's the slightest bit chewy- in a good way. It's sweet and tart and a taste of summer in every bite. If you have ever multiplying berries then give this recipe a try.

Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Tart adapted from Rachael Ray via A Feast For The Eyes

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• 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (1 pound)

Shortbread Crust:

• 1 stick plus 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Lemon Custard:

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice)
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Drain the blueberries in a strainer set over a bowl. Preheat the oven to 400°.

For the shortbread crust: Using your fingers, combine the butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar and 11/2 cups of the flour and blend together until coarse crumbs form (I used a pastry blender to incorporate the ingredients, but a food processor works well too). Pour the mixture into an ungreased nonstick 9-inch springform or cake pan and press down evenly to form a crust. Bake the shortbread crust until lightly golden, about 20 minutes.

Remove the shortbread from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325°. Scatter the drained blueberries evenly over the baked shortbread.

For the lemon custard: Beat the eggs with the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar until thick and pale yellow. Whisk in the lemon zest, the lemon juice and a 1/4 cup of flour. Pour the lemon cream over the raspberries.

Bake the tart until the custard is set, about 30 minutes (My tart took about 50 minutes for the custard to set in the middle). Let cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar.

NOTE: The top of the custard doesn't brown much so it's hard to tell if it's done, but it shouldn't be wet and liquidy. The custard is done when it firms up in the center. This may take longer than 30 minutes.

A Lemon Love Affair

It seems as if I've been on a lemon kick lately. First it was the Lemon Curd Icebox Cheesecake, then the Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake now these Lemon Cornmeal Shortbread. I even made something lemony again today- I can't get enough! I hope you guys don't mind :-)

I actually made these as a last minute treat to take to the book store to drink with my coffee :-) I know that's kind of like sneaking snacks into the movie theater, but I'm okay with that. Last week I was meeting a friend for coffee and chatting at B&N. Usually we just grab a couple of lattes, we walk around looking for a comfy chair or two and when we don't find one we head back to the noisy cafe area to chat about the weekly events. She mentioned that maybe next time we could get one of their desserts from the bakery counter and I agreed. Then I pondered that idea and changed my mind. Yes I wanted a sweet treat to accompany my beverage but I didn't want a cupcake, cereal treat or slice of cheesecake that had been sitting there for who knows how long. I wanted something fresh.

I did mention that I made these at the last minute right? When I say last minute, I mean I made these right before I hopped in the shower to meet her. They cooled while I was getting ready and I packaged them up before heading out the door while they were still a tad warm. They're simple and quick and they satisfied my craving for buttery shortbread. These shortbread fingers have the addition of lemon zest for added Summery flavor and cornmeal for a slight toothy crunch. I topped them with a little raw sugar for a little more sweetness and they were just right. They kind of reminded of lemon bars but without the gooey filling and a little more crumbly- delicious.

Lemon Cornmeal Shortbread adapted from Fine Cooking

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• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup or 12 T.) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 2 Tbsp. Turbinado or sparkling sugar (optional)

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease the sides and bottoms of an 8x8-inch square baking pan. Line with a sheet of parchment. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, lemon zest and extract. With a hand mixer, beat on medium high speed til light and creamy; about 3 minutes. Add the flour, cornmeal and salt and mix on low speed until the dough begins to form moist clumps. Dump the dough into the prepared pan.

Using a rubber spatula (I used my hand moistened with water) spread the dough into the pan in a smooth even layer. Dip the tip of a knife or a bench scraper in flour to prevent sticking and score the dough all the way through the bars. Cut the bars into finger like shapes (I cut the bars into 6 pieces on one side and 3 on the other side for a total of 18 pieces). Sprinkle the tops of the uncooked shortbread with turbinado or coarse grain sugar.

Bake until the tops look dry and are golden, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack. Immediately cut the shortbread into bars using the previously scored lines as a guide (they will have faded a bit during baking). Let the bars cool completely in the pan before removing them from the pan.

NOTES: It's important to cut the shortbread as soon as it comes out the oven . If you wait til it's cooled, it will crumble when you try to cut it.

~ If you leave an overhang on the parchment paper, it will be easier to remove from the pan.