Baby Shower Shortbread Cookies

Why are these called baby shower cookies? Simply because I made them as a thank-you gift for those who attending my baby shower a couple of weeks ago. My sister, alongside my aunt, planned the most beautiful day and we couldn’t be more grateful for everyone who came out to share it with us. As an expression of my gratitude, I spent the week prior to the baby shower making a homemade thank-you gift for the guests. I wondered what might be a cookie recipe I could make that was easy, and would please a large number of people. Thankfully most of my guests didn’t have food allergies or special diets, so I was able to use gluten, dairy and/or animal products, but I did try to keep the ingredients as healthy as possible. I landed on shortbread cookies that had a base of three simple ingredients: spelt flour, coconut sugar and butter. Then, I got creative with the flavouring.

I’ve divided the ingredients into ratios, rather than amounts, so you can decide for yourself how big a batch you want to make. I was making very large batches.

Ingredients:

1 part coconut sugar (I love the caramel flavour)

2 parts good quality butter (if you use salted, don’t add salt)

4 parts spelt flour (or red fife, or brown rice, or regular flour)

If you use unsalted butter, add a large pinch of salt, depending on the size of your batch

Example: 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt.

This is a shortbread recipe, meaning it is very high in butter. I personally love buttery cookies, but this is definitely a treat. This recipe may use some healthier ingredients, but is not to be confused with a “healthy cookie” (which, in my opinion, rarely exists).

To make the cookie dough, just whip up the butter (at room temperature) until it becomes fluffy and lighter in colour, and then add the coconut sugar and whip a while longer so that the granules of the sugar can incorporate air into the butter. Then, either beat in the flour using a mixture or a spatula. That’s it! That’s your basic batter.

For flavouring, I did two versions. The first was a grapefruit and rosemary batter, so I simply incorporated lots of grapefruit zest and chopped rosemary into the butter/sugar mixture before adding the flour. I also added a bit of juice (just a tablespoon) for a bit of extra zing. The second version was sea salt and chocolate, so I added vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture (in proportion to the batter size, but usually about a teaspoon) and then sprinkled the cookies with fleur de sel before baking. Finally, I brushed them with semi-sweet chocolate (melted chocolate chips - use double broiler or microwave in 15-30 second increments) and let them dry before serving them. You could try so many different flavour combinations with these cookies, though I do think it is important to consider the caramel flavour of the coconut sugar. Still, I’d be interested to try a lavender or earl grey tea flavoured cookie, or a matcha cookie with a white chocolate drizzle! Maybe those will make it into a future post.

Once you have your batter ready, with whatever flavouring you’ve chosen to add, ensure that you chill the dough before rolling it. I chilled mine for a good hour before trying to roll it. Once cool, roll the dough and cut your shapes. I used nautical themed cookie cutters (not knowing the theme of my shower yet) so I had mermaids, shells and starfish. Now, it is so important to WORK QUICKLY! The butter will want to melt quite fast (unless your house is cold). You may need to chill the dough again between rolling out batches.

Once your cookies are all cut and onto the tray, CHILL THEM AGAIN! This ensures that they keep their shape in the oven. This is a bit labour intensive, but it is worth it. For this chill session, they only need about 10-15 minutes. I also punched the word “thanks” into the cookies using a stamp from my sister, so I was extra eager to ensure the cookies held their shape.