Here are the very best Christmas cookies--they taste as good as they look! One batch of these bar cookies makes 48 triangles so you get a lot for very little work. Give them a try this holiday season. Merry Christmas, Phillis
APRICOT (OR RASPBERRY) ALMOND SHORTBREAD TRIANGLES
Makes 48 cookies.
Pastry:
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon grated
orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups unsalted butter,
melted
Topping:
1 (12 ounce) jar
apricot preserves or seedless raspberry jam
1 cup sliced almonds
1. Preheat oven to 325
°F. Grease or spray a 10 x 15 inch jellyroll pan with nonstick spray.
2. In the food
processor pulse the sugar, flour, cornstarch, orange zest and salt until combined.
With motor running pour melted butter through feed tube and process until combined
but still crumbly. Press dough evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes
or until pale golden. Cool 10 minutes.
3. Place jam in a small
saucepan and heat over medium low until melted, stirring often, about 4
minutes. Strain preserves if necessary to remove any large pieces of fruit.
Spread the shortbread with melted preserves all the way to the edges. Sprinkle
evenly with almonds, pressing them gently into preserves. Bake for
20 minutes or until jam
is bubbly and almonds are golden.
4. Remove the
shortbread from the oven and cool on a rack for 20 for minutes. While still warm,
loosen the shortbread from the edges of the pan and cut crosswise into 6
strips, then cut lengthwise into 4 strips making 24 squares. Cut each square in
half to form a triangle. Cool until firm. Keep in an airtight
container at room
temperature for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
