An Apron Completes My Baker Disguise

The whole apartment smells like butter cookies.

This is because I'm baking shortbread, which is basically butter cookies.

This is the ancient family shortbread recipe passed down from my foremothers:

• Take a pound of butter, four cups of flour, and a cup of powdered sugar
• Mash it all together until it achieves a uniform consistency
• Squash it into a pan so it's evenly distributed
• Bake it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it's light brown (depending on the pan size and how thinly squashed it is, it may need more time--possibly a lot more time)
• Cut it into rectangles in the pan while it's warm, then let it cool before removing it

I made a big double batch for a bake sale, and it was pretty thick in the pan. I hope it wasn't too dense to bake all the way through.

It's kind of nice to do a little baking on a cold, cold night. Get things all warm and smelling like pastry.

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