Sunday, April 4, 2010

Sweet Melissa Sundays - Pecan Shortbread Cookies


Have I forgotten how to bake? I don't think so. But I had problems with this week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, chosen by Lara of The Lab. It was simple, made entirely in the food processor, but I had to rework it in order to get a decent cookie. Unless I wanted the cookie to be shaped like this:


So I reverted to Dorie Greenspan's ziploc bag trick. Joy supervised:

After refrigerating the dough until it firmed, I cut open the bag, sliced the dough into bars and baked them for 17 minutes. I skipped dusting them in confectioner's sugar because they were very tasty without it.

18 comments:

Katiecakes said...

What a good idea! Sorry the dough didn't work out for you.

Katie xox

Candy said...

The dough was really crumbly and I had to work mine some to too. I was actually surprised to see that the recipe didn't call for the dough to be chilled first. I love the shape of your cookies - very elegant!

Anonymous said...

They turned out great in the end - the square shape looks very elegant. Your cat is cute!

Flourchild said...

I mixed my dough by hand and all worked well! Sorry it gave you troubles but great save using Dories method!
I love your cookies!

Unknown said...

I love what you did with these Leslie! Mine were so not photogenic and yours looks terrific :) My dough was crumbly at first too, but I just kept pulsing it in the FP until it held together.

Julie said...

Love, love, love the square shape of the cookies!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

You really saved the day. I did not have that problem but it seems that a number of people did.

You really did a great job with it.

Tessa said...

That's funny about the dough. Mine was actually a little on the soft side, and I think that's why mine flattened a little bit.

I'm impressed by the improve though! That really was a great save!

Susan said...

I read several other blogs that said the same thing. They look good as bars. :)

Anonymous said...

Im sorry the dough gave you fits. I know it was unusual for me to make shortbread on the food processor, but then when I realized that it was more of a Russian Tea Cake instead of a traditional Scottish shortbread. I did use the processor to mix up the base but then moved everything into the stand mixer. I know one key that I dont think was emphasized enough was the necessity to use ice cold butter and work quickly to keep everything cold. Thank you for trying them and I will have to look up the technique you mentioned, I have never worked with any of Dorie's recipes before.

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Love Dorie's method... actually thought about doing it once I was halfway through! :) Great photos!

margot said...

Nice job on using Dorie's method; I'm sure having a supervisor helped! Now you've got me worried that I overworked my dough. Oh well, they tasted good.

Nina said...

Great improvisation! I definitely didnt have too many problems with my dough. It was quite soft for me...

Anne said...

Oh I love the kitty picture! Glad you got the cookies to work out (they look perfect!)

Rosy said...

I'm super intrigued by that ziploc bag trick... Very interesting!! Yours look great and I can't help but picture them layered with summer berries and cream! Might have to give that a go... R x

spike. said...

so smart! I refrigerated the dough for awhile and then it was easier to roll into calls but I like the squares even better. `

Kayte said...

Those look delicious. Looks like your little helper is concentrating very intently on things!

Mara Campbell said...

genius way to fix your problem!!! I had so many issues with my cookies, one of them looking that that crumbly photo you posted!! Glad you were able to salvage them!