Pure Hunger

Shortly after having my son I was given the gift of good food from many friends and family. Each meal was a wonderful opportunity to introduce this new life to all those so close to our family. Their sharing of food was such a symbolic gesture of love, support and commitment to nourishing our growing family. Several members from the garden I belong to also provided us with meals. Once or twice someone left wine or cookies as a extra special treat for my husband and I to enjoy. Ok lets me honest, for me to enjoy. While there were many highlights, there was a particular cookie that humbled my cooking intuition.

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, plus extra for sprinkling
1 whole wheat pastry flour

Rosemary, sea salt and shortbread did not sound like a very welcoming combination but I had to give it a good try and was so overjoyed I ventured into that rabbit hole. It is a very savory and addicting sweet addition to your holiday cookie repertoire. I was lucky enough to also be recently gifted sea salt infused with rosemary and citrus. I substituted this infusion for the rosemary and salt required in the recipe. It was a bit of a mistake as I found the cookies to be a bit too salty. I hope with a few more tweaks I will have replicated those wonderful gifts from a very special time in our life.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir together butter, sugar and salt. Fold in rosemary. If using a salt infusion, like myself, use 2 tsp salt mixture. Mix in half the flour, then add remaining flour and combine.

Press into an 8-inch square pan, then sprinkle with a little extra rosemary and salt for a pretty top. Use fork to pierce dough at 1-inch intervals. Bake until lightly golden around the edges, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately cut into triangles. Cool for about five minutes, then promptly remove shortbread from pan using offset spatula or fork.