Recipe Information
Ingredients
Directions
Whisk together flours, salt, and xanthan gum in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla scraping bowl as needed.
Add dry ingredients with mixer on low. This will look like very dry and you will think that there is no way it will ever form a dough, but just keep going and it will eventually come together.
Form dough into 2 or 3 logs that are about 1 1/2 inch square and 6-8 inches long. Wrap in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for at least an hour. Overnight is fine.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 °F. Cut log into 1/4 inch thick slices with a sharp knife. Place an inch apart on parchment covered baking sheets.
Bake 8-10 min or until lightly browned on the edges. Cool 5 min on baking sheets before attempting to remove to racks to cool completely.
Notes
Spices can be added for chai spiced shortbreads (2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp cardamom).
You can color the dough. I used paste food colors and it was a little difficult to work in and get an even coloring. I mainly kneaded it by hand trying to be gentle and not melt the butter too much from the warmth of my hands. I made half the dough red, and 1/3 of the remaining blue to make flags. Pat out 2/3 of the red into a rectangle. Pat out the uncolored to the same size and stack on top. Pat out the remaining red into a rectangle half the width, and the blue the same size. Lay side by side on top of the uncolored. When viewed from the end, you will have the field of blue with a red stripe, a white stripe, and red stripe on the bottom. Press together well. Wrap and chill. Slice and bake as directed. I brushed with water and topped with clear sanding sugar for some sparkle.
I have also use these as cut out/stamped cookies. They are a little delicate, but worked OK. I use Dia de los Muertos skull cutter/stamp and then we decorated with cookie glaze. They were a great alternative to sugar skulls.
Copyright © 2011 Kathy Przywara. All rights reserved. The copyright of this recipe is retained by the original recipe creator. If you would like to publish this recipe elsewhere in print or online, please contact us to find out how to obtain permission.
Substitutions
These work fine with stick margarine like Nucoa.