with shortbread, butter cookie, pie dough, fondant and more...
Traditional Shortbread This recipe really follows traditional shortbread baking practices, like using salted butter — Most baked goods use unsalted butter. With just four ingredients, this recipe is easy and brings a taste of history into your home. Simply combine: Ingredients
Vegetable-oil cooking spray, for mold
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
3/4 superfine sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat an 8-inch ceramic shortbread mold with cooking spray; set aside.
Step 2
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar until well combined. Add flours and mix until just combined and a shaggy dough forms.
Step 3
Firmly press dough into mold in an even layer. Bake until edges just begin to turn golden, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Remove from oven; turn oven off. Let shortbread cool in mold 10 minutes.
Step 4
Invert a parchment-lined baking sheet onto back of mold. Carefully re-invert, turning mold onto sheet; lift off mold. Using a sharp knife, cut shortbread into wedges. Separate wedges, then return sheet to oven until shortbread is dry, at least 1 hour. Let cool completely.
Celtic Heart Pie Pops
Prep: 40 minutes | Bake: 30 minutes | Total: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield: Varies depending on the size of the glass/cookie cutter you use
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
3 Tbsp icing sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (cold)
2-4 Tbsp cold water
Cherry/strawberry jam
1 egg (for brushing)
This pie pop recipe was developed specifically for use with our Brown Bag Cookie Stamps. The Celtic Heart stamp was used in the photos for this recipe.
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 370F.
Step 2
Combine all of the ingredients and gather them into a ball, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Step 3
Roll pie crust out on a lightly floured work surface. Use a circular cookie cutter or glass to cut circles.
Step 4
Leave half of the circles plain (that’s the bottom of the pies) and place an oven-safe pop stick on each. Press the stick gently into the dough and then spoon about 1/2-1 tsp of jam into the center of each (leaving the edges) and set aside.
Step 5
Dip the Brown Bag Design cookie stamp in the flour, press and stamp the rest of the circles (that’s the top of the pies).
Step 6
Place the stamped circles on top of the bottom of the pies and press the edges with a fork to crimp the border.
Step 7
Transfer your pie pops to a baking sheet, brush them with egg, and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Celtic Tarts
When the weather gets cooler, the desserts get warmer! There’s nothing more comforting than a warm slice of homemade apple pie. This week, we’ve put together a simple, yet tasty way to have your pie and eat it too. These quick and easy Breakfast Tarts are just as pretty as they are delicious. With store-bought pre-made pie dough and canned fruit filling, these tarts will have you out of the kitchen in a dash. Beautiful impressions made with springerle cookie molds give these tarts a unique look.
Making these tarts is super easy! First, on a lightly floured surface, cut out your pie dough using a 4 1/2 inch circular cookie cutter. You’ll need 3 dough circles per pie – one for the bottom and two for the top that has the image. Place one pie dough circle on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and spoon approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of apple pie filling (or your favorite pie filling) into the center of the bottom circle. You may need to cut the apples into smaller pieces.
Next, comes our favorite part – making the impressions! We used two of our geometric springerle cookie molds: 6380 Intertwined Love Knots and 6210 Good Luck Knots with Leaf Border. Molds with a deep and simple design will provide the best images for these tarts. Place two of the circles on top of one another to create a thicker top for making the impression. With your springerle cookie mold image side up, center your dough on top of the mold and use your fingers to press the dough into the mold being sure to fill the cavities of the springerle mold. Carefully peel from the mold.
To assemble your tarts, wet your !nger with some water and run your !nger around the edge of the bottom circle. Top with your dough that has the springerle image impression. Press edges with a fork to seal.
For a golden brown crust, whisk together an egg white from 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of milk. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg white mixture evenly over the tops of your tarts. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until golden brown – approximately 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!
Products used in this article: #6389 Intertwined Love Knots
More St. Patrick's Day springerle molds...
Saint Patrick
Born in Britain shortly before the 5th century, St. Patrick, pictured below, was taken captive to Ireland by raiders at the age of 16. He lived there for six years as a shepherd under harsh conditions and became intensely devoted to God in prayer, as he puts it, “because the spirit was then fervent within me.” Tradition has it that divine dreams inspired both his escape from captivity in Ireland and his return there later in his life as a bishop.
May the Strength of God pilot us. May the Power of God preserve us. May the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us. May the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us. May the Host of God guard us. Against the snares of the evil ones. Against temptations of the world
May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us, Christ be over all! May Thy Salvation, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen
— Saint Patrick