Taste of Cape Breton - Short Bread Cookies

Hi guys!

Happy Holidays!!!! This the time of year for food, family, music and parties, aka a perfect Cape Breton winter! When I was thinking of a great Holiday recipe for this post, I thought back to my Christmas’ as kid and one thing came to mind, Short Bread Cookies. These buttery rich cookies were made only once or twice a year but always at Christmas. When you go around the Cape this time of the year, you will find Shortbread. Shortbread can be altered to your tastes, so when you get this basic recipe down try new things!

Basic Shortbread

• Preheat oven to 300.F
• 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar / icing sugar
• 1/2 cup Cornstarch
• 3/4 cup butter, soft ( not melted)
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla

Sift together the flour, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowel.
Mix butter and vanilla together in larger bowel.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture to make a coarse meal.
Mix until the meal forms into a dough. Will be a crumbly dough.
Roll out on a floured table to about 1/4 inch thickness.
Cut with 2'' round cutter.
Bake on a parchment covered pan for 20-25 min on 300 F. Until firm to the touch, golden brown on the bottom and lightly coloured around the edges.
Remove and let cool.

That's it! If you'd like you can press a nut or a candy (glacé) fruit into the cookies before baking.
A fan of lemon? Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of zest to the butter mixture. Do you like chocolate, melt some chocolate chips and dip part of the cooks in! Lastly, buy or make you favourite frosting and have fun.

Hope you enjoy this, happy holidays!!! Monday, December 22, 2014 Labels: cape breton , christmas , cookies , dessert , recipe , taste of cape breton , winter

Taste of Cape Breton - Coffee Cake Muffins

Hey All,

We are staring a new series here featuring recipes from around Cape Breton Island. Our principle writer for these will be my chef/baker sister Tina, who has been serving up delicious local flavours for a decade at a top local summer resort. Check out her first offering below, coffee cake muffins.

Hey everyone! For my first recipe in this series I'm going to bring you a delicious morning treat. Since it's that time of the year for cinnamon, spice and all things nice, I'm going with a recipe for Coffee Cake Muffins which fits that perfectly. Great for a cold fall or winter morning.

Coffee Cake Muffins 

• All-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups (375 ml)
• Baking powder - 2 tsp. (10 ml)
• Salt - 1/2 tsp. (2 ml)
• Butter or margarine, softened - 1/4 cup (50 ml)
• Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup (125 ml)
• Eggs - 1
• Milk - 3/4 cup (200 ml)
• Vanilla - 1 tsp. (5 ml)
• Spice Mix Brown sugar, packed - 1/2 cup (125 ml)
• All-purpose flour - 2 tbsp. (30 ml)
• Cinnamon - 1 1/2 tsp. (7 ml)

Combine the first 3 dry ingredients in a large bowl, stir.
Make a well in the centre. In another bowel or standing mixer combine butter, sugar and egg, beat well.
Add in milk and vanilla next.
Pour the wet ingredients into the well, stir just to moisten and don't over mix.
For the Spice Mix combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, stir well.
Spoon half the batter into 12 greased muffin cups 1/3 full.
Sprinkle spice mix over top.
If you'd like, you can take out some of the spice mixture and put it on top the muffin before baking.
Spoon rest of the batter over top filling to 2/3 full. Bake in 400oF ( 200oC) oven for 20 to 25 min. Friday, November 14, 2014 Labels: breakfast , cape breton , fall , muffin , recipe , taste of cape breton , winter

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