Chef notes
This breakfast-inspired shortbread is a special way to utilize the last serving of your favorite granola, which adds a mysterious crunch to the buttery cookie. Sandy ultrafine rice flour enhances this cookie's naturally melt-in-your-mouth texture. Cold cubed butter is worked into the dry ingredients using a food processor before the dough is pressed into a pan with your knuckles. The final flurry of powdered sugar is essential.
Because of its impressive life span after being baked, a pan of this shortbread, scored but not cut, is an exceptional, easy gift — it stays fresh for over a week and will survive even the bumpiest journey.
Technique tip: It's tricky to tell when an unfamiliar recipe is done in your oven. Never throw away a seemingly botched batch of anything — there's always another purpose for it. If the baked shortbread tastes undercooked or feels gummy, invert the shortbread onto a clean sheet pan, so the crumbs spill out. Break it up with your fingers and bake again at 325 F for 10 minutes. Now you have instant streusel. Is the shortbread overbaked and dry? Tip the crumbs into a food processor and blend until fine and add big handfuls to your next layer cake.
Ingredients
- 2 cups your favorite granola
- 3/4 cup walnut pieces
- 2 cups white rice flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, well chilled
- flaky sea salt
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Preparation
1.Preheat the oven to 350 F. Tuck a sheet of parchment paper into a quarter-sheet pan (9 by 13 inches). Lightly mist the parchment with cooking spray.
2.In a food processor, combine the granola, walnut pieces, white rice flour, granulated sugar and kosher salt, and pulse until the mixture is pebbly and fine.
3.Add the butter and pulse another 8 to 10 times, until the mixture feels like damp, coarse breadcrumbs. The butter should almost disappear into the dry ingredients but not be taken so far that the dough is clumping and gathering around the blade.
4.Scatter the dough evenly in the prepared sheet pan. Use your knuckles to lightly press the crumb into an even layer. It should be about 1/2 inch thick. Do not apply too much pressure, as this would make the shortbread dense and gummy. (The pan of shortbread can also be held in the freezer for up to 1 month and baked from frozen.)
5.Bake until the edges of the shortbread are lightly browned, and the center feels soft but cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes (see tip). Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the surface with flaky sea salt. While the shortbread is still hot, use a small knife to score it into 24 squares. Let cool completely, then cut the cookies, still in the pan, along the scored lines and dust with powdered sugar. The shortbread can be stored, tightly wrapped at room temperature, for up to 1 week.
Excerpted from "More Than Cake" by Natasha Pickowicz (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2023.
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