Amaretto Shortbread with almonds and brown sugar

This is a tweak on a recipe posted by my good friend Laura (aka The Cooking Photographer). Laura's original recipe called for Scotch and pecans, but I didn't have any Scotch in the house so I thought I'd revise the recipe to include Amaretto and almonds. They turned out extremely well and are even better served on day 2 or 3. They'll make a wonderful addition to any cookie try - great served with coffee or tea.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• almonds https://amzn.to/2HlYplf

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/2E8mUAl

• 9x9 professional cake pan https://amzn.to/3JiKryW

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Amaretto Shortbread with Almonds and Brown Sugar

makes one 9x9-inch pan

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• ½ cup almonds

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• ¼ cup granulated sugar

• ¼ cup brown sugar (no lumps please)

• 1 tablespoon Disaronno Amaretto (or 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract)

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Topping:

• ¼ cup coarsely chopped almonds

• 1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F and place rack in the lower third of the oven.

2. Line a 9x9-inch cake pan lined with nonstick foil. Be sure the nonstick side is facing up. Alternately, you can use regular foil that has been lightly buttered (you want to be able to lift the bars out by the foil edges).

3. Process 1/2 cup almonds, flour, and salt together in a food processor until almonds are finely ground. Set aside.

4. In a stand mixer, beat the butter for a minute until creamy. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, Amaretto, and pure vanilla extract; beat for 2 minutes until the texture is light and fluffy.

5. On low speed, mix in the flour, half at a time, until just combined. Be careful not to over mix,

6. Press the dough evenly into the baking pan. Sprinkle the top with the chopped almonds and the coarse sugar - press them slightly to embed them in the cookie dough.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges.

8. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then grab the edges of the foil and move the shortbread to a nearby cutting surface and immediately cut into squares with a very sharp knife.

9. Transfer to a cooling rack and finish cooling.

Notes

• Be careful to not let the almonds burn.

• For best results, make a day or two in advance.

• For glass pans, lower the oven temp 25F.

Laura's original recipe can be found here.  Please check out her blog... it's one of my favorites!

Caramel Sauce

There was an ice cream party at the kid's school today and each family was supposed to send in one ice cream topping. I had a feeling a lot of the kids would bring chocolate syrup, but didn't think anyone would bring caramel sauce, so I decided to whip up a batch - no recipe, I just winged it.

I started by melting 1 stick of unsalted butter (8 tablespoons), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan.

I heated it over a medium flame until it reached a nice color and it started to smell kind of carmel-y. I also transferred the sugar/butter mixture into a larger pan because I remembered caramel bubbles up violently when liquid is added, and I planned to add cream in the next step.

I added about 3/4 cup of heavy cream and stirred well. Note: I usually let it get a bit darker before I add the cream, but I needed to get this out the door fast, so I finished it a bit on the light side. I knew the kids would love it no matter what, and they surely did... there was only a drizzle in the bottom of the jar at the end of the party.

Then I turned off the heat and added 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract; stir, stir, stir...

I let the mixture cool for a couple of minutes before pouring into jars. As you can see, this step can be a bit messy, so I filled the jars over a lined sheet tray.

After a quick clean-up, I added the lid and wasn't pleased with the appearance of this reused maraschino cherry jar, so....

I jazzed the jar up a little with gold ribbon and a couple of squares of recycled star tissue paper, which made for a much more pleasant presentation. I don't usually recycle tissue paper, but this one was too cute to throw away - glad I saved it.

Caramel Sauce

makes 1 1/2 cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (be sure to use the good stuff)

Directions

1. Melt butter, sugar, and salt together in a large sauce pan.

2. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until desired color is achieved.

3. Remove from heat and stir in cream.

4. Cool for a couple of minutes before adding pure vanilla extract; stir to combine. Enjoy!