My goal is to make myself memorable as I entice the club members to my table so I can give my 30 second "elevator speech" sales pitch and get each visitor to remember me. How do I do that? First, I try to dress up my little 3 foot table space with pretty fabric and a laptop slide show of my gardens.
Second, I smile...a lot!
Third, I bring out my secret weapon...food. Each year I bring a tasty dish for visitors to sample. Each recipe needs to be quick to hand-out, not too fussy or messy to eat, and include ingredients that relate to my cooking demonstration topics. This year I offered my favorite herbal treat. My rosemary shortbread cookies are always a winner and are so easy to make. The best thing about this recipe is that I can make the dough ahead, freeze it, and then thaw out the dough just before I'm ready to bake. The dough will hold well in the freezer for 3 months. Enjoy!
Rosemary Shortbread Cookies with Lime Icing
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp fresh rosemary
½ cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
Optional Herbs: lavender, thyme, basil
Icing:
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tsp lime juice and ½ tsp lime zest or 1/8 tsp lime oil
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Combine the rosemary and sugar in a food processor turn on for 30 seconds to allow the herb oils to flavor the sugar.
- Beat the butter and sugar together with a paddle in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth but not fluffy.
- Add the flour all at once and mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated and begins to form the dough.
- Roll the dough out on a floured board into two 8-inch logs that are 1 ½ round.
- Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes...wrapped dough can be frozen for up to 3 months if desired.
- Cut the logs into ¼-inch slices and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 22 to 25 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown or they will be over baked.
- Allow the shortbread to cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to a cookie rack and cool completely before icing.
- While the cookies are cooling make the icing. Combine the icing ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Drizzle the icing in streaks over the cooled cookies (I use a fork). If the icing is too thick add more milk 1 tsp at a time. Be careful not to make the icing too runny. Allow the icing to harden before serving and storing for later use.