Vanilla in Shortbread?

[BakerAunt]

The email with three cookie recipes that KAF sent out today had shortbread--with 2 tsp. of vanilla. I love shortbread, and my opinion is that a good shortbread does not need vanilla. It should be about the butter, flour, sugar, and salt.

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[Italiancook]

I've never made shortbread, but I agree with you. I'll be interested in knowing what the bakers of shortbread think.

[Mike Nolan]

I've seen shortbread listed as a 3 ingredient product, but that generally includes salted butter. Shortbread without salt would probably be on the bland side.

Vanilla, contrary to its reputation, is another way of avoiding bland, but it is also possible to have too much vanilla.

The Scottish Shortbread recipe that I use as the basis for an apple crisp has vanilla in it, but it is also a King Arthur recipe.

The NYTimes has a shortbread 10 ways recipe, one of the ways is to add vanilla bean, another is to add citrus, a third is to add maple syrup, a fourth is to add spices like cardamom. All ways of avoiding bland.

Several of those ways sound good to me.

[Joan Simpson]

The recipe I make is from King Arthur Shortbread I put the vanilla in it but not almond or other flavorings.

[S_Wirth]

It has always seemed to me that KAF does overkill with vanilla and they sell vanilla...so hence the reason it seems to me. Currently, they sell a 16 ounce vanilla for $ 54.95. They sell other smaller quantities that would be even higher if multiples were bought.

Thru the years KAF has tailored so many recipes using one ingredient that only was available from them. Then in a few months the ingredient was no longer available. Many will recall the mini lemon chips and coconut nuggets. The list is long and the excuses were longer.

[Mike Nolan]

It should come as no great surprise that the test kitchen staff at any food company are considered part of the marketing department. Their job is to create demand for their products. Even distributors like Sysco have chefs on staff who travel around to key customers and show them new products and new ways to use existing products.

More than once I've gotten the impression that the buyers at King Arthur don't talk to the test kitchen staff. PJ once told me that she had spent several weeks working on an article only to find out that a key ingredient in it had been dropped from the warehouse (which is just down the stairs),

[KIDPIZZA]

Italiancook wrote:

I’ve never made shortbread, but I agree with you. I’ll be interested in knowing what the bakers of shortbread think.

Dear Italian cook, Good morning. You asked for thoughts for "SHORTBREAD COOKIES"....well here are mine.

RE~READ what our member BAKER AUNT wrote in this thread She said it all very well.
Just 4 ingredients...of course in proper ratio (That is my secret) I will say just one secret today. Use only 1, tsp of TABLE SALT per 16, oz (1, pound of butter) or
6 grams worth.
Try not to employ if at all possible SALTED BUTTER...WHY. because it has 04% salt/per 1# butter in it which amounts to approx. 10% more salt than my stated amount. you will taste that extra amount of salt in your cookies.

One or two simple items I can share with you today & it is this, Employ BLEACHED AP flour ONLY. Remove 25% & add in CORNSTARCH or white rice flour... Either will do, I use cornstarch because IT IS LESS EXPENSIVE... (I am as cheap as my baking buddy Miss SARAH WIRTH IS). No need to use powdered sugar, using this culinary choice defeats the function of the vital make~up (GUTS) of this recipe. employ X~tra fine gran sugar run it thru the FP for about 20/25 seconds. No liquids are to be used. But & however POWDERED VANILLA can be employed (KAF sells this ulta~ priced item.
I have only 2 SIGNATURE baking recipes, ie, AUTHEMTIC SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD COOKIES & NU YOLK CHEESECAKE. that means no one bakes those two items better or even as equal as my 2 recipes.

I hope I have encouraged you to bake these cookies.... truly there none better than an authentic SCOTTISH shortbread cookie with just those aforementioned 4 ingredients.
This concludes my thoughts.

ENJOY THE DAY MY FRIEND

~CASS/KIDPIZZA.

[BakerAunt]

Note: I posted this before I read Cass's previous comment.

I agree with S.Wirth in that I have also noticed that KAF overuses vanilla in some of their recipes. Although there is a time and a place for vanilla, it does not belong in almost every recipe. I had thought with the prices going up, there might be some backing off from their vanilla obsession.

Some of my recipes do require KAF specific ingredients. I am sorry that the cappuccino chips were discontinued, as they are key to the biscotti recipe and scone recipe KAF developed. Butterscotch chips --their suggested substitution--do not cut it. They now carry a different almond paste and a different "cinnamon chip," and I hope that those will work in my recipes.

Back to shortbread: I enjoy the taste of the butter and do not want it overshadowed. A good shortbread is an antidote to the abundance of chocolate this time of year.

My shortbread recipe comes from Scotland. I have improved it due to Kid Pizza's comments on shortbread: increasing the salt and using bleached flour (not KAF AP). I'll post it, as well as the maple sugar shortbread recipe I adapted from KAF. I'm not a fan of powdered sugar in shortbread, and I did not like using some rice flour when I tried that, as both seem to me to interfere with the taste and texture. The exception for me with powdered sugar is if I plan to use a large mold. Then I follow the recipe that came with the mold.

While KAF flour is wonderful for breads, I have moved away from using it in most cookies. I either use unbleached Gold Medal or Pillsbury, or if there is a high proportion of butter, I use bleached. Hudson Mill is my favorite bleached flour, but I do not seem to be able to find it here. My husband has been told that when we travel, we will be hitting the grocery stores in route.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BevM]

My shortbread cookie recipe has 1 teaspoon of vanilla in them. It is a recipe I have used for years from Maida Heatter. The original had cocoa in it which I omitted and find it is delicious as a plain shortbread cookie. Occasionally, I will dip one side in chocolate to dress them up.

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