Lemon Almond Shortbread

It was time to suck up at work – I am the new kid on the block after all. So I made shortbread – Lemon Pistachio Shortbread. Read on for the details.

Shortbread is surprisingly easy – it is basically butter and flour and sugar. You can add other things if you want but those will do…

Lemon Almond Shortbread

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cream together 3 sticks (12 ounces) of butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar. Mix in thoroughly one teaspoon of vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of (meyer) lemon zest. Add two and a half cups of flour and 3/4 of a cup of ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) and a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 a cup of toasted almond slivers. Thoroughly mix these using two forks or two knives or a pastry cutter or a Kitchen Aid mixer. You will end up with a crumbly, almost-dough mixture. Get a flat baking pan up to an inch high but no more and carefully press the dough into the pan using the back of a fork until it is bound together and pressed in tight. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until the edges are starting to turn brown. Take out, let cool five minutes. Carefully cut into squares with a knife and then carefully lift out onto cooling racks with a spatula. Let cool thoroughly to allow them to get firm. Beat off passers-by with the spatula. Carefully pack in boxes with paper towel to take to work.