SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

I've always been a cookie monster. When I was growing up, it would have been unthinkable to go to bed without a big glass of milk and some cookies. Sadly, the metabolism isn't able to handle the rekindling of that cherished memory on a daily basis, but I do sneak in the occasional glass of milk or cup of tea and a cookie or two whenever I have a few calories to spare.

There are almost no boxed cookies that I care to eat these days. I remember those wonderful brown-edged, thin butter cookies; I think they were made by Nabisco. I haven't seen them in a store in decades. Fig Newtons don't taste the same, nor do Chips Ahoy, Oreos, or Social Teas. About the only cookie from my youth that still tastes the same are Mallomars and they are a "red light" food for me. I can tell you that there are 18 cookies in the entire box and that's a whole lot of calories.

When I'm baking cookies, I love oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, Linzer cookies, Neopolitans, and any kind of shortbread. I was looking to try a new recipe today. Instead of reaching for one of my many cookie cookbooks, I went online and eventually found this very simple, 3 ingredient recipe on All Recipes.

I mixed the dough in my KitchenAid, began rolling, but ended up patting out the dough, and used a pizza cutter to cut the cookies. In the future, I WILL use a ruler and I will make the cookies smaller. Most of them were too large for a shortbread. I like them the size of Walker's shortbread.

The end product is delicious and has a wonderful texture. I did read in one or two of the reviews that they are even better when you replace some of the all purpose flour with rice flour. I may try that next time.

Servings - 24 to 36 cookies

2 cups unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare your cookie sheets. I recently bought several silicone mats. My only regret is that I didn't do this years ago. What a pleasure!

Cream the butter and sugar. Add 3 3/4 cups of the flour and mix well.

Sprinkle a surface with the remaining flour (I love my silicone mat!). Roll or pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.

Cut 3 X 1 inch strips. Prick with a fork.

Bake 22-25 minutes. Cool on a rack. Package tightly.

That's all that's standing between you and being a hero: 3 ingredients and about 45 minutes!