Formula: Short Dough Cookies

Here is a formula for short dough cookies. These are perfect for icing with royal icing, poured fondant or decorating with buttercream.

Shortbread by lilivanili

 Done in a 20 QT mixer. This is a large batch so I would do about a 1/3 or even a 1/4 of this formula for home use.

[# = lb]

• 6 # butter
• 3# sugar
• 3/4 oz salt
• 1# 2oz. Eggs
• 2 oz B & V (is a flavored powder with lemon, rum & vanilla) [you can add liquid vanilla etc.]
• 9# pastry flour
  

Cream butter, sugar & salt till light . Add eggs & flavoring.
Add pastry flour a little at a time. (has a tendency to plum in a 20 QT bowl, so carefully add)

Put onto a floured [unpapered] pan.Flatten with hands, cover w/ plastic & retard[refrig.]

Take pan from the retarder (a.k.a refrigerator). Take a bench scraper & cut out 1/3 of the pan of short dough. Flour your work space. put your chunks of dough onto the flour space & taking a rolling pin holding with both hands, firmly hit the dough with a down sloping motion. Continue to rock & roll back & forth until dough is no longer cold & firm.

Flour your dough , and the bench again, if needed. Roll the dough out until it has reached 1/4 -1/2 inch. Place a cookie cutter over dough & press firmly. Make as many whole shapes as you can with your dough.

Remove the scraps . To prevent the dough from being over handled (so the butter is warm enough for cookies to wilt) Take a clean bench scraper - run the corner under the edge of your cut out shape.

The dough may stick to the bench} Run the scraper blade under the cookie until it moves freely. IF making larger cookies it is best to slide the scraper under the cookie & let it rest on the blade & part of your hand, this way you can safely transport the cookie to the pan without it losing shape

Bake at 350 - 375 F. Until lightly browned.

Let cool completely. Then ice .