Five-Spice Shortbread
This very untraditional shortbread would be delicious after a Chinese dinner.
Ingredients
At a glance
Shaped, molded and pressed cookies
Makes
16 pieces
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into bits
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 8-inch
round cake pans with aluminum foil, pressing foil evenly into pan to fit well.
Grease foil.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, and five-spice powder. Add to the butter mixture in 2 batches, beating lightly with a wooden spoon. Dough will be rough, but pliable. With lightly floured hands, gather dough into a ball. Cut it into 2 equal pieces with a knife.
Again with lightly floured hands, press each half of the dough into the prepared pans. Crimp edges or press down gently with the tines of a fork. Using the point of a small, sharp knife, score each pan of shortbread into 8 wedges (be careful not to cut more than halfway through the dough), much as if you were marking a pie to be cut later.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until shortbread is a uniform honey color, firm to the touch and not brown around the edges.
Cool shortbread completely in the pan. Score the shortbread again with a knife. Grasp foil on 2 sides and lift carefully to remove shortbread from pan. Break gently into wedges.
Note: If you like your shortbread a little crunchier, bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Note: Traditional Chinese five-spice powder is a blend of star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon and Szechuan peppercorns. (Some commercial blends vary from that formula.) It gives this shortbread an intriguing, anisey flavor. Five-spice is available in many supermarkets and wherever Chinese foodstuffs
are sold.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, and five-spice powder. Add to the butter mixture in 2 batches, beating lightly with a wooden spoon. Dough will be rough, but pliable. With lightly floured hands, gather dough into a ball. Cut it into 2 equal pieces with a knife.
Again with lightly floured hands, press each half of the dough into the prepared pans. Crimp edges or press down gently with the tines of a fork. Using the point of a small, sharp knife, score each pan of shortbread into 8 wedges (be careful not to cut more than halfway through the dough), much as if you were marking a pie to be cut later.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until shortbread is a uniform honey color, firm to the touch and not brown around the edges.
Cool shortbread completely in the pan. Score the shortbread again with a knife. Grasp foil on 2 sides and lift carefully to remove shortbread from pan. Break gently into wedges.
Note: If you like your shortbread a little crunchier, bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Note: Traditional Chinese five-spice powder is a blend of star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon and Szechuan peppercorns. (Some commercial blends vary from that formula.) It gives this shortbread an intriguing, anisey flavor. Five-spice is available in many supermarkets and wherever Chinese foodstuffs
are sold.
Additional tips
Store: In an airtight container
Freeze: Yes
Mail: Yes, wrap separately
Freeze: Yes
Mail: Yes, wrap separately
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