Recipe: Orange Shortbread

ORANGE SHORTBREAD

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh orange peel, minced
1/2 cup (1/4 pound) cold butter, cut into pieces
Vanilla sugar (see note)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, the 1/4 cup sugar, and minced orange peel. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or rub butter into flour mixture with your fingers).

Pour this crumbly dough into a 9-inch springform pan or cake pan with a removable rim, or into a decorative shortbread mold that you've coated with nonstick spray; press dough firmly and evenly over bottom of pan.

With tines of a fork, make impressions around edge of dough; then prick surface evenly.

Bake in a 325-degree oven until pale golden brown (about 40 minutes). Remove from oven, cut into 8 to 12 wedges, and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar. Let cool in pan on a rack; then remove pan rim and lift out cookies.

Store airtight.

TO MAKE VANILLA SUGAR:
Place a scored vanilla bean in about 1 cup sugar in an airtight container. After about 24 hours, the bean will have begun flavoring the sugar. Stores indefinitely at room temperature.

Makes 8-12 cookies
Adapted from source: Sunset All-Time Favorite Recipes