Friday, April 10, 2009

Mammy's little baby loves short'nin' bread


One of the many great things about having nieces and nephews is the resurrection of nursery rhymes and lullabies in your life. My mom sang several of them to us growing up and I can remember loving them thoroughly. As you grow older, you forget all of those clever rhymes and peaceful lullabies and live your life every day without them. When my older brother and sister started having kids of their own I got the pleasure of hearing my mom sing the songs of my childhood to her new grandchildren. And the memories flooded back to me like they had never left. I have several favorites and even a select few that I have reserved as the number one choice when it is my turn to sing to the little ones. But my all time favorite to hear my mom sing to her grandkids is Short'nin Bread. I know there are a ton of lyrics, but she sticks to the chorus:
Mammy's little baby loves short'nin', short'nin',
Mammy's little baby loves short'nin' bread
It is fun, catchy and the children love it! I sang that special chorus all last night as I worked in the kitchen to make these treats. After some Googling, I am now aware of the fact that Short'nin Bread and Shortbread Cookies are two totally different concotions. That is ok, it was still fun to bug Forrest with my little tune even if it wasn't 100% accurate.

Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients
  • 3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt,

then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture.

Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. (Once the dough is ready to come out of the mixer it is very crumbly. Just drop it onto a floured surface and knead it about 2 times and it will form together in one combined mixture.) Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk.

Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick using your new Martha Stewart rolling pin bands that ensure a perfectly even dough (see blue bands - love them!)

and cut with your new shortbread cookie cutter/stamp from Sur La Table

(or any other shaped cookie cutter).

Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Serve to delighted guests.

12 comments:

ErinsFoodFiles said...

Very cute!! Great job.

Gabriela (Gabi With An Eye) said...

Shortbread cookies are a weakness of mine. Yours turned out beautifully and I love your little cookie cutter.

Suzy said...

Cute cutter and cookies! I'm sure they taste great too.

VLAdams said...

Lovely Fleur De lis plate. I have the same pattern:)

#1SAHM said...

I was singing this song to my husband the other day and he thought I had made it up! Deprived child! I love shortening bread cookies, thanks for sharing!

teresa said...

I've never made shortn'n bread before. And I love that cookie cutter, cute!

Kerstin said...

I love that cookie cutter! They look fantastic - I'm a huge sugar and shortbread cookie fan.

Nammo said...

Bizzy, on average, how long does it take for you to prepare a recipe? You include such detailed pictures! Your start/stop time; must be very time consuming, but ever so pretty to look at. Ever how long, they are indeed pretty to look at and tempting to try.

If it were me, i'd have flour/grease everywhere!!

Good job Bizzy!

NAMMO in Alabama

Anonymous said...

Since my 4 year old loves Starbucks (yes I know that is weird), we have adapted the lyrics to that song and sing .... Momma's little baby loves pumpkin pumpkin, Momma's little baby loves pumpkin bread. And I don't know if we made up the next line or not but then we sing ... She called the doctor and the doctor said, give that baby some pumpkin bread ... except we since our Dr's name in the song. So weird how child hood songs stick with you forever.

Oh and the cookies look great!

Your Sister,

Jessica

Manhattans in Boston said...

These look great. I've not had much luck with shortbread but will try again hoping the silicone sheet solves the problems I've had in the past.

Elizabeth said...

Nammo,

It depends on the recipe. I save the really time consuming ones for weekend days where I have no other plans outside of those in the kitchen. Forrest helps take the step by step pics on most recipes so that helps a lot. I never have to stop cooking to snap shots.

P.S. I do have flour and grease everywhere! I will share a picture of my kitchen after a cooking session soon - it would make Martha Stewart break out in hives. I am a VERY messy cook. Luckily though, "I cook, he cleans"!

MaryBeth said...

I have always wanted to make shortbread cookies, I have just never had enough ambition to do so. I love the looks of yours!