Shortbread, Shortbread and more Shortbread

I'm not a big fan of cookies, I eat them once in a blue moon.  But the one cookie that I can't resist is shortbread.  If there's any in the house, I don't stop until it's all gone.

Best part is that my husband and children love it just as much as I do, so it never lasts long.

Yesterday I had a craving for some melt in your mouth shortbread, and I whipped up a batch.  It's GONE, there is nothing left and so, here I am again, making another batch, or two, or three to fill up the cookie jar.

I made two different variations.  The first one is a very simple straight forward shortbread, just 3 ingredients.   The second one is a Pecan Shortbread, another of my favorites. :)

Melt in your Mouth Shortbread

2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar, plus
1 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Place flour and sugar in large bowl. Mix with wire whisk. Add cut butter.

Use a pastry blend, your fingers or food processor to blend butter into flour/sugar mixture. Dump mixed ingredients into 9x13 pan. Press down with fingers and level-out.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly brown on top. Remove from oven. Cut shortbread into squares and then into triangles while the shortbread is still warm. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Cool completely in pan.

And now for the Pecan Shortbread. This one is slightly adapted from Ina Garten.

Pecan Shortbread

3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups small diced pecans


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter/sugar mixture. Add the pecans and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump into a 9x13 pan, press down with fingers.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Cut into rectangles or diamonds or whatever you wish :) Allow to cool to room temperature and serve.