Summertime Peanut Shortbread

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Guest Post from Lucy Natkiel of Brown Bag Designs. Creator of Brown Bag Shortbread Pans and Cookie Molds.

I’m retired.

I keep telling people that. But the information seems to bounce right off of several shortbread aficionados I know.

Particularly my friend Rox. “I neeeeed a new shortbread recipe. Pleeease?!!! Think of me, think of all of the shortbread addicts out there, think of Robert the Bruce!” So okay, okay, okay…

Because I seem to be on a peanut butter kick at the moment, I have worked out a rich, not too sweet

Shortbread recipe using Peanuts that I find surprisingly subtle and really delicious.

In the summer, I gobble vegetables right out of my garden, cook less, and eat quantities of peanut butter as my nod to protein.

I hope this will satisfy Rox; I’m sure Robert the Bruce would be appalled.

Peanut Shortbread (unorthodox but delicious)

Ingredients

• 1 stick of softened unsalted butter (4 oz.)
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar (2 oz.)
• 1 yolk from a standard “medium” or “large” egg
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, scooped from the bag, then leveled (5 oz.)
• 1/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts (1 1/4 oz.)
• Pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Cream the butter with the brown sugar and the egg yolk, adding the yolk when the sugar is thoroughly mixed. I like to use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
2. Place the flour, peanuts, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the nuts have been ground to a fine meal.
3. Work the flour mixture into the butter mixture, stirring on slow speed until the dough clumps together. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead just until it is smooth and homogenous.
5. Press it into a shortbread pan that has been lightly sprayed with a vegetable oil spray such as Pam, pressing firmly with the heel of your hand, evening it as you go.
6. Prick the entire surface with a fork.
7. Bake the shortbread in the center of a 350⁰ oven for 25 – 30 minutes, until the surface is light brown.
8. Remove the shortbread pan from the oven and set it on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then turn the pan over onto a wooded or plastic cutting board. Be sure to cool the shortbread in the pan for at least 10 minutes, but no more than 15.
9. Holding the pan face down about 1 ½ to 2” above the board, drop it. This will jar the shortbread, and it should fall right out of the pan.
10. If it doesn’t, drop it again in the same manner.

Note: This shortbread has slightly more sugar than do most of my recipes, so it is a little more prone to sticking.

Slice the Peanut Shortbread into serving pieces with a sharp knife while it is still warm. Cool on a rack and serve.

Though I like this shortbread pure and simple, a smear of melted chocolate on the backs of cooled pieces never hurt anything. Peanut butter and chocolate is a classic combination, after all.

Enjoy –
Lucy

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