Brown Sugar Shortbread

My sister Toni and I were out yesterday and we stopped in at the latest iteration of L.A.’s famous Sweet Lady Jane bakery. Three weeks into their tenure at 1631 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, and the joint was jumpin’. People everywhere, buying, eating and enjoying. I was craving a treat, so I grabbed a piece of SLJ’s Brown Sugar Shortbread. It was divine, a tiny coin of a cookie, but packed with flavor. The problem with buying only one cookie, especially one as good as Sweet Lady Jane’s – one is never enough. Will I never learn? So this afternoon I got busy in my kitchen and made my own version. This cookie is buttery and tender, not too sweet, but definitely brown sugar, definitely molasses. And like all shortbread, it is both a keeper and a traveler. These cookies would be a welcome addition to any Holiday cookie tin or table. Buon Natale!

Brown Sugar Shortbread

makes 5 ½ dozen 1-inch squares

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place butter in bowl of KitchenAid mixer fitted with paddle. Beat until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt and combine well.

Add flour in 3 additions. Beat until just combined.

Turn dough out onto parchment. Form into block, wrap and place in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Cut dough in half, and working with one piece at a time, roll out to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured board. Cut into 1-inch squares or other shape. Gather and reroll scraps. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets and bake on center rack 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly colored. Cool on racks.

A note to all cooks: if you want to make these cookies (which of course you will) but discover upon opening your pantry that you are out of brown sugar – do not despair! In your food processor combine 1 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup molasses and you’ve got brown sugar. Honest.

Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show!