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Spiced Embossed Shortbread Cookies
Sometimes the simplest of holiday cookies are the most satisfying, though crushed candy canes and seven layers of ingredients can be fun too. These elegant shortbread cookies have a perfect balance of flour, butter, sugar, and spices. Technically this isn’t a shortbread dough because of the egg in the ingredients, but that’s to help make an ideal dough for using an embossing rolling pin and for the imprint to remain vivid throughout the baking process.
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Woodland cottage embossing rolling pin
I tested out this recipe with all purpose flour and with whole grain spelt flour, and both versions produce tender cookies that dissolve in your mouth. The ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves taste delicious, but you can also play with different ratios or other spices such as cardamom, mace, allspice, and star anise.
Simple fluted circles
Spelt dough in various shapes
The spices stand out a little more in the all purpose flour cookies whereas in the spelt cookies, the spices are combined with the nuttiness of this heirloom wheat. Surprisingly both doughs need the same hydration. Other wheat varieties can be used as well, though you may need to add a few extra teaspoons of water or flour based on how the dough feels when you form it into a ball before chilling.
Spelt spreads a little more during baking
Spiced Embossed Shortbread Cookies
Try these simple and elegant embossed cookies for the holidays. They're tender and buttery with a lovely blend of spices, and if you bake the spelt version, also some whole grain nuttiness. These spiced shortbread cookies are fun to roll out, emboss with patterns, and cut into any shape you prefer.
Ingredients
Instructions
Dough Prep
Rolling and Baking
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Woodland Cottage Embossing Rolling Pin
$20.50Original price was: $20.50.$14.50Current price is: $14.50.JK Adams Lovely Rolling Pin — 1/4-inch
$24.00All Purpose Flour
Spelt Whole Grain Flour
Spelt Berries
Flour Duster
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Spiced Embossed Shortbread Cookies