Get your butter out because we are making shortbread cookies as part of our December Cooking Club Challenge. It was a close vote but in the end, out of the 208 of you who voted, 40 per cent opted for shortbread. (You have the option of making the regular shortbread or the chocolate nougat shortbread or why not both!) Great choice! For me, the holidays wouldn’t be complete without gorging on shortbread cookies.

Thanks to our new site, you can share tips and opinions immediately with fellow challengers. No need to wait until the end of the month.

Here's how the Cooking Club Challenge works:

• Make the chosen monthly recipe: Anna Olson's Shortbread Cookies
  
• Feel free to follow it to a "T" or add your own creative flair.
• Email me (blogATfoodtvDOTca) a picture (in .jpg format) and a short descriptive paragraph of no more than 50 words before December 31, 2009, for your chance to win prizes.
• Check out last month's results: Michael Smith's Cinnamon Rolls.

Shortbread Cookies
Yield: 36
Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup 2 Tbsp icing sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Sift in icing sugar and beat again until fluffy, scraping down sides of the bowl often. Sift in cornstarch or rice flour and blend in. Sift in all purpose flour and salt and mix until dough comes together (it will be soft). Stir in vanilla.
Spoon large teaspoonfuls of cookie dough (or use a small ice cream scoop) onto an un-greased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until bottoms brown lightly. Remove from cookie sheet to cool.

Chocolate Nougat Shortbread

   1. Prepare shortbread recipe as above and spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet. Press a triangle piece of chocolate nougat candy into the center of each cookie and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until bottoms brown lightly.

Related:

• Our Cooking Club Challenge page