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| What You Need: |
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1 tablespoon plus 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour, sifted before measuring
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the softened butter. Set aside.
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2. With an electric mixer, beat the 1 pound of butter and the cup of sugar together at high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then reduce the speed to medium and beat in the flour, a cup at a time; continue beating until the mixture is smooth.
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3. (To make the dough by hand, cream the 1 pound of butter and the sugar together by beating and mashing them against the sides of a mixing bowl with a large spoon until the mixture becomes fluffy. Add the flour, a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. If the dough becomes stiff to stir, knead in the remaining flour with your hands.)
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4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 10 inches long by 8 inches wide and about ˝ inch thick. With a ruler and a pastry wheel or a small, sharp knife, cut the rectangle lengthwise into four 2-inchwide strips, and make crisscrossing diagonal cuts at 2˝-inch intervals across them to form small triangles.
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5. Prick the pieces all over with the tines of a fork, making an even pattern of tiny holes on the surface. Arrange the triangles on the baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch and delicately browned. With a wide metal spatula, transfer the triangles to cake racks to cool completely. Shortbread will keep for 2 or 3 weeks in tightly covered jars or tins.
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NOTE:
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Shortbread dough may be baked in various shapes. Sometimes it is rolled and cut into rectangular cookies; sometimes it is rolled out into one large round cake and the surface marked with a knife tip so that it can be divided into individual wedges.
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To Make: about 2 dozen triangles
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