While gathering inspiration for ways to rid my house of Nutella, I came across an absolutely lovely blog called The Cake Merchant. Oboist by profession, baker by passion, this author’s gorgeous photography and creative verve for desserts quickly pulled me in.
Of course, out of all the fancy and colorful creations she highlighted, the brown sugar and cinnamon shortbread caught my eye first. As you know, I’m always looking for excuses to make shortbread and sable cookies. And, reading the ingredients for a brown sugar and cinnamon variety had be wondering, “why did I think of that?”
Simple and elegant, what sets these cookies apart is a sprinkling of turbinado sugar that has been doused in cinnamon.
Like cinnamon toast, only a smidge more refined.
While the smell of cinnamon rising from the kitchen on a May morning felt a little bit anachronistic, these would be a happy treat on a cool fall afternoon with a cup of tea.
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Shortbread
adapted from The Cake Merchant
Ingredients
- 1/4 C turbinado sugar
- 1 TBS ground cinnamon
- 1 C (2 sticks) unsalted temp, at room temp but still cool to the touch
- 1/2 C packed golden or light brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 1/4 C all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine turbinado sugar and first tablespoon of cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift in flour then whisk-in salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Using a standing or electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce speed to low, and add-in flour, mixing until just combined.
- Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and work slightly until dough comes together.
- Divide dough in half and roll each half into a log (I like to use the cardboard round from paper-towels, split length-wise to help hold shape). Wrap tightly in plastic and either refrigerate for an hour or freeze.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice logs into 1/3-1/2 inch rounds (depending on desired thickness). Please on cookie sheet and sprinkle with turbinado and cinnamon mixture. Press down just slightly so as not to change the shape of the dough, but help the sugar stay in place (you could also brush the cookies with an egg-wash first, then sprinkle the sugar if you didn’t want to press the sugar into the dough).
- Bake for 18-20 minutes if using from fridge, add-one 3 minutes or so if from frozen. The cookies should be golden brown on top but not around the edges.
- Cool on wire racks. These will freeze well if tightly wrapped.