header –Snail, Fruit, Nuts, Grapes, and Pinecones by
I was thinking about shortbread, a cookie I used to make, and then having made it for two years, it HAD to be made because we
ALWAYS
had it. Until it didn’t get made for a year or two, because new cookies joined the fray….I mean
TRAY
According to Wikipedia, this is an American Christmas Cookie Tray.
I found a shortbread recipe….or four….or six…..some have splatters and some do not….from the many shortbread years. This will not be a shortbread year. Maybe next year.
I also found a recipe from my cousin Flora. She e-mailed it in 2006. This is her version, with some notes from me. I re-wrote the recipe in 2008, so I had made it several times by then. An easy add to the Holiday Tray.
RICOTTA COOKIES
Blend until creamy:
1 stick ROOM TEMPERATURE butter
1/4 cup ricotta (I actually put in about 1/3 cup)
Add and mix well
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Slowly stir in:
2 cups SIFTED flour (this is less than 2 cups flour sifted)
1/2 tsp baking soda (note from me – baking soda and baking powder are not the same thing, and aren’t really interchangeable. Don’t ask me how I know this, but I do, I REALLY do!)
1/2 tsp salt (note from me – don’t leave out the salt – it activate the soda to leaven)
Drop batter from a tsp onto a greased baking sheet. (I use RELEASE which I think is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I TOTALLY agree!)
Bake in the upper half of oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Tops will be white but bottoms will be brown. Makes 36 cookies. Cool and glaze. Store in a covered container and they will last for a couple of weeks (you won’t get to this point because they will be eaten like grapes).
Glaze: 2 cups sifted confectionery sugar
3 tbls orange juice or whatever flavoring you choose
sprinkles if you have them
Blend well (NOTE: the sprinkles go one the cookies after they have been glazed – don’t add the sprinkles to the glaze)
Bon Appetito!
Still Life with Grapes and Other Fruits by Luca Forte, Getty Center, 1630s
“eaten like grapes”
