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Poppy Seed Shortbread is tender and flaky shortbread speckled with poppy seeds. They’re buttery, rich, and simply delicious.

This recipe is part of a #ChristmasCookies Week. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures possible.

I don’t know about you but I love shortbread. That slicky, buttery, sweet little crunchy cookie is just delectable. Not to mention they are actually quite easy to make.

When we were growing up mom always made sure of that at some point in time throughout the year we had Walkers shortbread. It was the only shortbread cookie that you could find back in the day. So if we were at Disney World or Busch Gardens or other touristy places like that which might sell it, she would find it and buy a tin.

We would crack open that tin can eat one piece apiece and close the tin up. We would savor those tiny little fingers of shortbread as long as we possibly could. Dad would inevitably dip his in coffee because Dad likes dipping all of his cookies and coffee.

That slightly sweet super buttery and crunchy texture had me hooked from the first time I bit into one of those little delicious cookies. However, for whatever reason, I never made shortbread cookies. Don’t ask me why I just never did it’s not something that was on my radar to make, I always thought that they were very difficult to make and they’re really not!

 

If you can make pie crust then you could make shortbread cookies!

Because poppy seed shortbread is just as simple as making a pie crust. Which is basically what shortbread dough is. Pie crust and shortbread recipes are simply a mixture of flour and butter and sugar. Of course there’s other flavoring as you can add like different extracts and nuts.

But basically shortbread cookies are the same as pie crust. In fact I think that there are two types of pie crust. Back in the day, there was a cookie based crust and one being a shortbread crust. I’m pretty sure you could find some older recipes that talk about a shortbread crust for a pie. But don’t quote me on that since I haven’t done the research yet.

The first time I made shortbread cookies I made them the more traditional way. For the coffee shortbread cookies, I grabbed a pastry blender and combined the butter and the flour together with the sugar and used what little arm strength I had making them. Not that they were difficult, but did take more time to make the dough.

Then I found a recipe for empanada dough that is made in the food processor.

That got me searching for recipes or techniques that make pie crust in the processor. And, well, since I know pie crust and shortbread cookies are basically the same, I thought, “Why not try this recipe in the food processor?” So, that’s just what I did!

I pulsed the flour, powdered sugar, and diced butter in the processor until it looked like coarse meal. Then I set to full on power and let it do it’s thing until the dough started to come together. That’s when I added the vanilla bean paste and let it continue to come together.

When starts to form a complete ball, that’s when I added the poppy seeds. You don’t want to break those suckers down so I left them until the very end to add them. And that’s when you’d add the lemon zest if you want to use that. Since the hubs doesn’t like citrus desserts that much, I did not add zest to these cookies.

Yes, I did let these get a little more brown around the edges. I had the first back in for 13 minutes and set these for the same amount of time. Who knew they’d darken right up around the edges like that? Not that they taste bad. I love that extra crispy edge. Just make sure you keep an eye on yours and pull them when they’re just a little brown around the edges of the cookies.

They will continue to cook in the pan. Just like a steak continues to cook after you pull it from the heat, cookies and baked goods do the same thing. Carry over cooking. So even though they might look like they’re not cooked enough, the carry over cooking will allow them to be the perfect amount of done!

 

I love the flecks of poppy seeds in there!

And they have a hint of poppy seed flavor in them, too. Which surprised me! I didn’t think there were enough in there to flavor the shortbread, but this poppy seed shortbread does taste like poppy seeds! It took me a few cookie tastings to be sure, but it’s there. Hmm. I wonder what other seeds I can put in there? Sesame? Fennel? Cumin? Those sound interesting.

Friday Christmas Cookie Recipes

• Chocolate Bonbon Cookies by That Recipe
• Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Cookies by West Via Midwest
• Christmas Magic Bars by Devour Dinner
• Christmas Monster Cookies by Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies by Blogghetti
• Grinch Heart Thumbprint Cookies by The Spiffy Cookie
• Holiday Everything Cookies by Frugal & Fit
• Honey Walnut Cookies by Books n’ Cooks
• Lavender Snickerdoodles by Palatable Pastime
• Maple Sugar Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Mocha Sandies by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Pecan Pie Cookies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Poppy Seed Shortbread by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Sadie’s Double Pecan Butter Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Small Batch Pecan Fingers by Art of Natural Living
• Spiced Holiday Cutouts by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Toasted Pecan Snowball Cookie Recipe by Swirls of Flavor
• White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Molasses Cookies by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks