Shortbread for ALL

Simple, elegant, delicious 

You had no idea you were 5 ingredient away from a totally amazing dessert, did you? Butter, flour, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar are the base for an infinitely versatile dessert. You can top it with nothing, with granulated sugar, with jam, with berries...etc etc x infinity.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart but I've taken the liberty to copy and paste the recipe and ingredients here for you.

INGREDIENTS

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (You can use vegan earth balance or regular butter if you're not interested in it being vegan)
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted (I never sift it)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted (Ditto here - sifting is for overachievers)
• 2 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. STEP 1

   Spray a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2. STEP 2

   In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour. Mix until well combined.

3. STEP 3

   Evenly spread cookie dough into prepared tart pan. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

4. STEP 4

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle shortbread with sanding sugar (or not). Using a 2-inch round fluted cookie cutter, make a shallow cut in the center of the dough. Using the tines of a fork, score dough from the edge of the circle in the center toward the edge of the pan into 12 equal wedges.

5. STEP 5

   Transfer tart pan to oven and bake until light brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the shortbread comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes (I honestly think this is WAAAAY too long to cook it; we cook it 30-40 and it's perfect). Immediately re-score circle and wedges with cookie cutter and the tines of a fork. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 1 hour. Remove shortbread from tart pan and let cool completely. Cut into wedges with a serrated knife along the scored lines.

VEGAN CINNAMON ROLLS

Don't wait to make these. Make them tonight. Right now. Make them yesterday.

OK, you can wait but I would encourage you to make them soon as they are delectable.

The recipe is from Minimalist Baker. Click this link for the recipe and a full set of really helpful photos.

I made the dough the night before, let it rise for a few hours and then covered it with plastic and let it hang in the fridge overnight. In the morning, it sat on the counter for an hour or so before being rolled and sprinkled and baked. I also used a little less butter when coating the rectangle of dough and brushing the tops of the rolls once lovingly placed in the dish to be baked.

The second best part: I thought the recipe was incredibly easy to follow.

A former coworker was invited to test and declared: "WOW! They do not taste vegan at all!" I totally understand that sentiment. I eat a lot of vegan food and sometimes stuff "tastes vegan" to me too. But not these. No vegan handicap here! I'm guessing that's why The Minimalist Baker called them "Easy Cinnamon Rolls" and not "Vegan Cinnamon Rolls."

Vegan Chicken Salad

I'm not posting a picture of this: you're welcome.

This recipe tastes yummy but it looks, let's just say it, like a little bit of barf. But you're not going to look at it, you're going to eat it so don't sweat how it looks! Perhaps this is more of a cleaning-out-your-cupboard recipe than an entertaining-your-cosmopolitan-friends recipe.

The good news is that this concoction has lots of protein. It's versatile - you can put it on bread or pair it with crackers or scoop it on a salad and chances are these are things you already have in your cupboard.

1 can of garbanzo beans (I like Trader Joe's organic)
2 Tbs vegenaise - or less if you like it a little chunkier
1-2 Tbs of Dijon mustard
about 6 Bubbies bread & butter pickles chopped
- you can add chopped celery

I used a potato masher to smooooosh it all together and then got some Trader Joe's Multigrain crackers it in ASAP.

Apricot Jam

Before I took a canning class with Delilah, of Patchwork fame, I never realized how easy it was to make jam. Easy. It's pretty much just a loving marriage of sugar and fruit and it's helped me learn about the magic of patience.

The two main things you need to know: use good fruit that's really ripe and the jam will tell you when it's ready - you can't rush it.

This is Delilah's recipe. I could only glean 4c worth of apricots so I halved it. Another magical facet of these recipes is that they are easily, easily malleable to fit your ingredients. I also didn't have 6 cups of regular sugar so I mixed Trader Joe's organic sugar and the super nubby horrible-to-dissolve-in-cold-drinks sugar we had to squeeeeeze together 3 cups of sugar. I'm trying to be thrifty since ye old separation from the job and making my own stuff is thrifty and exceedingly rewarding.

Here's what you need:
8c apricots
4c sugar
1/4c lemon juice

Put it all in a non-reactive pot until it gets mushy - it takes about 30 minutes but you just gotta feeeeel your way around the jam. It looks runny until it doesn't look runny anymore. I know that sounds elusive, but when you cook it, you'll know what I mean.

Set it on the counter in the little jars and let it hang out until it's cool enough to put the tops on.

I like to put them in the fridge to make it a nice cool complement to whatever you smear it on. In my house, that's a hot biscuit.

Thanks Delilah for letting me post your delicious recipe!