The cool days of autumn call for spices to warm up our food and drink. Cinnamon and ginger have hints of heat and they pair beautifully in baked goods. So why not add these spices to shortbread? Surely they could only make my favourite cookie even better. This basic shortbread is made with just a wooden spoon so there is even some exercise worked into recipe – which means the first 2 cookies are calorie-free.
When using nutmeg in a recipe try to use fresh nutmeg. You can purchase nutmeg whole, they look sort of like an acorn, in the bulk section of the spices. Use a rasp to finely grate the nutmeg. The smell of the freshly grated nutmeg is amazing. With cinnamon ensure it is fresh as well as it does loose it’s zing after about 6 months. My preference is Saigon cinnamon – it has a strong flavour and quite a bit of heat. For the ginger you can used ground dry or try freshly grated ginger. That will definitely add heat! If you aren’t familiar with cardamon it is a peppery spice and is wonderful in baked goods. Use it whenever you use cinnamon to change things up a bit. These spices: cardamon, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon together make a terrific combination when added to the shortbread dough. Once the heat of the oven hits the aroma is amazing.
So experiment with your favourite spices and you never know what you will come up with!
- ½ cup salted butter, room temp
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cardamon
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Line a 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium sized bowl cream together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. Mix until smooth and fluffy.
- In a separate small bowl whisk together the remaining dry ingredients until all the spices are evenly distributed.
- Spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the baking pan using the back of a spoon or your fingers.
- Refrigerate 15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 300 ℉.
- Bake on the bottom rack for about 40 minutes or until it feels firm when pressed in the middle.
- Let cool 20 minutes in pan on rack.
- Lift by parchment paper onto cutting board. With a sharp knife cut into even pieces.
- Let cool completely.
- Store in a tin for up to 1 week.