This recipe is adapted from the 1944 Good Housekeeping Cookbook.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1
cup (sweet, unsalted) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/4
teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
Cream
butter, add confectioner's sugar, a little at a time, beat until light and creamy. Add sifted flour mixture, a little at a
time, beating between additions. Chill until easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
Gently roll dough on a floured board to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes and arrange on a parchment-papered
cookie sheet. Cookies do not spread very much, so you can place them fairly close together. Bake for 20-25 minutes
(depending on size), or until delicately golden but not brown. Cool completely before icing. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies
that will absolutely melt in your mouth.
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FONDANT
ICING FOR SHORTBREAD COOKIES
(adapted from the Antoinette Pope Cookbook, 1958)
This icing
is fairly thick, with a glossy finish, but it stays creamy inside (does not completely harden).
1
cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3 to 3.5 cups sifted confectioner's
sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
small canisters of AEROSOL food coloring in pastel colors
In
a 2-quart saucepan, cook until CLEAR granulated sugar, water and corn syrup (continually stir and watch carefully as it clarifies
at one moment several minutes into the cooking process).
Remove from heat, let stand for 5
minutes. Add confectioner's sugar a little at a time, beating between additions. Beat in vanilla. Continue
beating until smooth, shiny, and lukewarm. If too thin, add more confectioner's sugar. If too thick, add a teaspoon
of water. Consistency should be thicker than honey, but not too thick to spread with knife or small spoon.
I
load the warm icing into the type of plastic bottle used for filling chocolate molds, and squeeze out the icing to cover each
cookie, smoothing with a small knife. Let iced cookies stand for several hours to set. After fully set, line
up the cookies on large baking sheets and spray across them with 3 shades of aerosol food coloring, creating a rainbow-effect
across the whole batch. Let food coloring dry for an hour. After the coloring dries, store iced cookies in air-tight
containers.
