Rosemary offers a subtle hint of pine and a savoury note the honey contributes flavour and moisture. It’s an easy recipe, good for shortbread newbies. It’s also delicious made with fresh thyme instead of rosemary. Thinking that cardamom might be the next herbaceous go to. Adapted from a recipe found on Epicurious.
| 2 c | flour |
| ¾ | t salt |
| ½ | t baking powder |
| 1 T | chopped fresh rosemary |
| ¾ | c unsalted butter, softened |
| 2 T | mild honey (Honey Time local honey) |
| ⅔ c | icing sugar |
| 1 T | granulated sugar (optional) |
| small rosemary sprigs for garnish |
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and rosemary together in a bowl.
Mix the butter, honey and icing sugar in a stand mixer (or hand mixer, start off slow) until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix until the dough resembles coarse meal with some small, pea-sized lumps of butter remaining. Do not over work. Gather the dough into a ball and transfer to a piece of parchment paper. Knead until it just comes together, about 8 times. Halve dough and form each half into a disc.
Roll out 1 disk (keep the remaining dough at room temperature) between 2 sheets of parchment into a 9-inch round (or so, trim as necessary). Repeat. Transfer each disc on the bottom sheet of parchment to a baking sheet. Score into 8 wedges by pricking dotted lines with a fork, then mark the edges in any way if you like. Place the rosemary sprigs on top, pressing lightly to adhere, and sprinkle the dough with the granulated sugar (if using).
Bake the shortbread in the middle of the oven until lightly golden around the edges, about 20 minutes (watch closely, and if making cookies, shorten the baking time. I overcooked them at 22 minutes). Slide the discs on the parchment to a rack and cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut along score marks with a large heavy knife.
Makes two discs or 16-20 cookies, depending on size.