Almond-Orange Shortbread

Almond-Orange Shortbread recipe: Martha Stewart - Everyday Food
Ingredients: (I halved the recipe)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (I halved the recipe and started with 1/2 cup butter, but it wasn't enough so I added another 1/4 cup)
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- Grated zest of 1 orange (about 2 teaspoons)
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions:
- In a mixer bowl, beat butter, sugar, almond extract, and salt until smooth.
- With mixer on low speed, add flour and orange zest; mix just until a dough forms.
- With a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or your hands, gently mix in almonds.
- On a piece of waxed paper, form dough into a rectangular log, 12 inches long, 2 1/2 inches wide, and 1 inch thick.
- Wrap log in the paper, and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 months. If freezing longer than 1 day, wrap log again, in plastic wrap.
- Preheat oven to 325F/170C.
- Remove dough from freezer. (If dough has been in freezer a long time and is frozen solid, let it sit at room temperature 30 minutes so it slices without crumbling.)
- With a sharp knife (I used a flower-shaped cookie cutter), cut dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices (mine were a lot thicker! 1 inch I would say); place on ungreased baking sheet at least 1 inch apart.
- Bake until edges just begin to turn golden, 20 to 25 minutes. (mine were done in 22 minutes)
- Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet; transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.






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