28 Days Make a Habit

Happy 28 days! It's hard to believe this random thought Mandy had over Sunday lunch has turned into 28 days of blogging.

In the past 28 days, I've enjoyed getting to share a bit of my life with you, but I also appreciate those you who have left comments and have shared parts of your life with me.

In the past 28 days I've come to have a great appreciation for rosemary. So I'll close this chapter of posting with the recipe for Lemon Rosemary Shortbread Cookies. The recipe is originally from Martha Stewart, but I changed up a few things and added the lemon glaze from the Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone Rosemary Lemon cupcakes.

For my version, you'll need:
1 cup unsalted butter softened
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 egg large (whole)
1 egg white
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 TBSP fresh rosemary finely chopped
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup sugar for dusting the outside

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
5- 5 1/2 tsp of lemon juice

1. Let butter and eggs stand at room temperature for 30 minutes and in the mean time, chop the fresh rosemary and lemon zest together and set aside.

2. Put softened butter in a large mixing bowl and top with granulated sugar.

3. Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes

4. Mix in whole egg and vanilla.

5. Add rosemary and salt

6. Reduce speed to low and mix until combined.

7. Add flour and mix until combined

 

8. Halve dough

9. Shape each half into a log and ... this is where Martha calls for covering with parchment paper and stuffing inside an old paper towel tube to get them to be the "perfect round shape" while they're freezing-- but yeah right.  If I can find the paper towel roll it's probably already in the recycling bin and I never have parchment paper.  So I used plastic wrap and tried to get it as evenly shaped as possible.  After all, the less-than-perfect look proves they were made by hand right?

10. Put logs in the freezer and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.  You can also keep them in this frozen state for quite a while if you're looking for a fast on-hand dessert.

 No picture-- 

what?  

You want a picture of the inside of my freezer?  

Trust me, it's not that exciting

11. After an hour, or whenever you're ready to serve, preheat oven to 375 and brush each log with egg white and roll in reserved 1/2 cup of sugar.

12. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds (give or take, clearly mine below aren't all the same size) and space 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake until edges are golden about 18 to 22 minutes.

13. While the cookies are baking, juice lemon used for the zest in step 1.  Depending on the size of your lemon you might need more to get the right consistency in the glaze, but normally 1 lemon will give enough.

14. In small bowl combine 1 cup powdered sugar and enough lemon juice for spreading consistency.

 

15. When the cookies are done, and while they are still warm, place a small amount of the glaze on each cookie (this let's it soak in a bit) or if you want more of a true glaze, let cookies completely cool and then add the glaze on top.

16. Store for up to 3 days in an airtight container-- if they last that long

Enjoy the treat,