Shortbread a la grandma

To bake shortbread, start by preparing the dough. Mix the softened butter with the sugar in a bowl until it has reached a creamy consistency. From my experience, I recommend using a food processor or blender to make the process easier and ensure a uniform consistency.

Now add the eggs and stir until they are completely combined with the butter and sugar mixture.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Scrape the vanilla pulp out of the vanilla pod and add it to the flour mixture, as well as the zest of half the lemon. Stir the dry ingredients well.

Now it's time to combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture. A little patience is required here, as the ingredients need some time to combine. I recommend gradually adding the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stirring well in between.

Once the dough is well mixed, it can be passed through a mincer or piping bag to form shortbread. I always use grandma's old mincer, which is perfect for this.

Place the formed cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for approx. 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Leave the shortbread to cool briefly after baking and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Grandma was always generous with the powdered sugar, so I do the same.