stamped shortbread

raya cookies project
recipe#4

first off, lemme just tell you that i am NOT the most immaculate person in the world. i get a headache if i need to do intricate things. i am clumsy and i like to keep things VERY VERY simple. but, after reading this post from pook's blog, i somehow managed to convince myself that i could do it. now, to most of you, something like this would not be that challenging...but to me, it takes days of prepping and convincing the mind that i can actually do it. that it's not THAT hard...it's not rocket science, it's not like i have to perform a root canal or something like that. it's not, right? WRONG!!

lemme just say that i salute all you people out there who have the patience to do beautiful things. my idea of a cookie would be to just scoop the dough with an ice cream scoop and transfer it onto a baking sheet.

why do it? well, because i sometimes like to deliberately give myself a migraine and also because i LOVE shortbreads and pretty little shortbread things...like this. haha!

okay, this very talented lady pook made the effort to give you a step-by-step on how to make this. see? other *normal* people will not think twice to do something like this. me? aiyer...no need to cakaplah. you can view the step-by-step pictorial here at her blog. thank you soooo much pook!

you want recipe? yes? okay.

ingredients:
100g unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1/8 tsp salt, i thought i saw 1/2 so i added 1/2tsp...no wonderlahhh a bit salty
40g icing sugar
120g cake flour
45g rice flour

the how to:
1)  place the butter into a mixing bowl and sift both the flour, icing sugar and salt into the bowl.

2)  cut the butter and flour mixture into small pieces. until it turns into breadcrumb like texture.

3)  pour out and work the dough onto a flat surface. i just kneaded the dough in my mixing bowl...perhaps this is where i went wrong? *

4)  knead until they all stick together and smooth. (i think i did it till they were all sticking together and, not to mention, smooth...so what went wrong, eh?)

5)  wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. (i didn't wrap, i just plonked the whole thing into a covered container. my my, arent we having a blast with not following instructions, huh?)

6)  after that, pre-heat your oven to 160°C.

7)  line a baking sheet with baking paper or silicone mat.

8)  roll the dough until 5mm thick.

9)  cut into desired shape, place them all onto the prepared baking sheet and stamp the cookies.

10) bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden.

* as you can see from my photos, my shortbread is not pretty as pook's, prolly because i didn't follow instructions. ;-)

the taste? what can i say, these babies taste vanderful. perfect with a cup of tea.

come back soon, aight?

i would like to thank pook and her wonderful blog: dailydelicious.blogspot.com for the recipe and also for tip on where to get the cookie stamps. thanks pook!!
aaaand also for my friend Jude for allowing me to use her address for the stamps to go to. hehehe...thanks Jude!! muah!