Nova Scotia Style Shortbread Cookies ~ Holiday Baking Time

I make these wonderful cookies every year, These are my personal favorite cookie. Truly, very "Nova Scotia style" Shortbread Cookies. As I did last year, this year. I made both the plain and the ones with some chocolate drizzle for my friends that are not real use to a cookie without alot of sugar. I hope you enjoy them!

I want to tell you that, for me, this is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"! Even as January creeps closer. I love this holiday time, celebrating the Birth of Jesus, and having "special time" to spend with my Loved ones. I truly believe, and wish people would have a little Christmas in their hearts all year long, present company Included!!

Last year, I called all my Sisters, Nieces, Grand Nieces, In-laws.... basically, every female member of my family to start things off with a "Begin Ladies Baking Day!" the Saturday after Thanksgiving!! (it was a Smashing success, by the way!) I want to share some of the things we made with you! Some of the decorations and arrangements I've been working on with you over the next month. I simply can not, prepare, decorate and post Holidays and occasions a month ahead of when they actually are! There! I've said it! Most Bloggers do this to help provide Inspiration! They all do a wonderful job at doing just that! For me, however, it is not practical (and I feel like I miss out on the here and now).

I have been doing alot of baking, decorating and spending time with friends and family! I can think of no better way to spend my time!!
I am my Blog's photographer, writer, creator, and editor. It takes a bit of work and time to share these things with you and I love doing it! But, I often find myself doing or making something fun and thinking I should have took a picture of that "before" so I could show you how to get the same end result. What can I say, "I am doing my level best!
Sorry, back to the Baking Day!! Every year My mother, I and a sister here and there make a Bounty of Christmas Cookies, Breads and Candy! This year I wanted to start our "Baking Day" as a means of having and cherishing time with my Family, but also to alleviate the pressure of all these goodies from my Mum's list of to do's! We make A LOT!

In the last couple of weeks, I made these yummy "Shortbread Cookies", that are, wonderfully, commonplace for most of my Canadian Family and represent special memories, for me, of my Grandmother. Shortbread Cookies are not really as enjoyed here as much as others, and I wanted to do something about that!! I made a beautiful batch of these Traditional Nova Scotia-style Shortbread Cookies, the day before my families baking day to be decorated and include in what we all have to share.

This week, I made another batch. This time, with a little more dimension, to share at a Christmas Tea with my Women's Group from Church. So here's the simple trick I did to make them more appealing to most!

They usually are a very basic 3 to 4 ingredient, no frills, delicious buttery cookie. That, in my opinion cannot be beat to have with tea! But to make them universally appealing and festive, I simply melted some chocolate in a double boiler, about 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate and about a teaspoon of flavorless oil (like canola) The oil helps maintain the nice color and shine!

Then, you just take a fork, and on a wire rack OVER wax paper, have fun drizzling the chocolate back and forth over your shortbread, it couldn't be easier!! But what a difference! They were a big hit at my Christmas Tea and with friends and family.
(Note: I never work on drizzling more than 6 cookies at a time, or you lose the beautiful way the chocolate overlaps the side of your cookie)

Here's the recipe. I hope you will enjoy it with your friends and family, as well.
Recipe: Traditional Nova Scotia Shortbread Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Vanilla ( not traditional, but I love vanilla!)
2-1/3 cups All purpose Flour, sifted twice
Wrap and chill dough at least 1 hour, 2 is better
Roll to 1/4 inch, make sure to fork your cookies well, or you get air pockets (which really does ruin the cookie)
Cut cookie as you like!
Bake in a slow oven, 300-325F/just until the edges get a very light golden, no brown here.
Cool on rack & enjoy or finish with chocolate or raw sugar.
Many Blessing to you all.

originally appeared on Shoestring Elegance November 2014       
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