Grammy's Recipe Book Desserts

Shortbread

275°F ovenone 9×13 pan

Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 30 min
Rest
20 mincool
Total
2 hr 10 minstart to eating

Times are our estimates for Grammy's recipe, with unhurried prep.

Grammy's handwritten page for Shortbread
Page 19 · full size

As written

Word for word from her page, with her spelling and line breaks. [?] marks a word we couldn't read.

Short Bread

1 lbs butter
1 1/4 c confect. sugar
2 TBSP corn starch

mix

add 4 cups flour - big ball

13x9" pan - pound in evenly

Prick with fork - sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar
toss around + dump out excess

Bake 1 1/2 HRS @ 275

turn out + cut right away
long strips -

Grammy's recipe

Her recipe, typed out to cook from: her amounts and her words, with abbreviations spelled out and the steps numbered.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound butter
  • 1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 4 cups flour
  • ¼ cup sugar, for sprinkling

Method

  1. Mix the butter, confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch.
  2. Add the flour and work it into a big ball.
  3. Pound it evenly into a 13×9-inch pan.
  4. Prick all over with a fork. Sprinkle with the ¼ cup sugar, tilt the pan to spread it around, and dump out the excess.
  5. Bake 1½ hours at 275°.
  6. Turn out and cut right away into long strips.

Modernized

A present-day cookbook version, with missing steps filled in. These are suggestions, not her words.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (4 sticks) salted butter, softened
  • 1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
  • 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 275°F.
  2. Beat the butter, confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch until smooth. Add the vanilla.
  3. Mix in the flour on low until it just comes together into a big ball.
  4. Press evenly into an ungreased 9×13 pan. The flat bottom of a measuring cup helps.
  5. Prick all over with a fork. Sprinkle with the granulated sugar, tilt the pan to spread it, and tip out the excess.
  6. Bake 1½ hours, until pale golden and firm at the edges.
  7. While it’s hot, turn it out and cut into long strips. It sets hard as it cools, and then it snaps rather than slices.

Ideas to play with

Twists and variations to try. Suggestions, not hers.

  • Brown sugar

    Swap half the confectioners’ sugar for light brown sugar for a caramel note.

  • Chocolate-dipped

    Dip one end of each cooled strip in melted dark chocolate.

  • Lavender or rosemary

    Work 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or dried lavender into the dough.

  • Half batch

    Halve everything in an 8×8 pan and bake about 1 hour 10 minutes.