-
Prep time
1 hour 15 minutes
-
Cook time
30 minutes
-
makes
about 30 cookies
Author Notes
These shortbread cookies are incredibly delicious, tender, and perfectly salty thanks to Vermont Creamery Sea Salt Cultured Butter. The pomegranate glaze is easy as can be to whip up and it gives the finished shortbreads a lovely pink hue. If you’re eating the cookies right away, you could even decorate them with a few fresh pomegranate arils—sanding sugar or sprinkles are better if you plan to store the cookies.
I like to roll these cookies out and cut them using cookie cutters, but you can also shape the dough into a cylinder that’s about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long. Once formed, slice the dough into ¼-inch-thick rounds. You can make the dough up to two days in advance, but make sure to leave it out at room temperature to soften slightly before attempting to roll or cut it because if the dough is too cold it will crack and be hard to work with. —Yossy Arefi
Test Kitchen Notes
This recipe is shared in partnership with Vermont Creamery. —The Editors
Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
- For the shortbread:
-
14 tablespoons
(198 grams) Vermont Creamery Sea Salt Cultured Butter, softened
-
3/4 cup
(90 grams) confectioners’ sugar
-
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
-
1/2 teaspoon
almond extract
-
2 cups
(256 grams) all-purpose flour
- For the glaze:
-
1 cup
(120 grams) confectioners’ sugar
-
3 to 4 teaspoons
100% pomegranate juice
-
1 teaspoon
freshly squeezed lemon juice
-
Pinch of kosher salt
-
Sanding sugar, optional
Directions
- For the shortbread:
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Mix on medium speed until well-combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix on low until combined. Add the flour all at once and mix on low until well combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure there are no buttery pockets.
-
Wrap the dough in a length of plastic wrap and pat it to a 1-inch thick disk. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
-
While the dough chills, heat your oven to 300ºF and line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
Remove chilled dough from the fridge and divide in half. Working with half of the dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll it ¼-inch-thick between two pieces of parchment paper. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. (Don’t worry, they won’t spread when they bake.) Gather the scraps, re-roll them, then cut more cookies. You should have about 30 total.
-
Bake the cookies, rotating the pans halfway through, for 22 to 27 minutes, until the cookies are just barely golden on the edges. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
- For the glaze:
-
While the cookies are cooling, combine the confectioners’ sugar, 3 teaspoons pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth, adding more pomegranate juice if necessary, ½ teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is the texture of white glue.
-
Dip each cooled cookie in the glaze and top with sanding sugar, if desired. Let the glaze set until dry before storing in an air-tight container, about 30 minutes.
Yossy Arefi is a photographer and stylist with a passion for food. During her stint working in restaurant kitchens, Yossy started the blog Apt. 2B Baking Co. where, with her trusty Pentax film camera, she photographs and writes about seasonal desserts and preserves. She currently lives in Brooklyn but will always love her native city of Seattle. Follow her work at apt2bbakingco.blogspot.com & yossyarefi.com.
See what other Food52ers are saying.