Baked Sunday Mornings- Classic Shortbread with Fleur de Sel

 

I enjoy taking a break in the late afternoon - some call it "tea time", some call it a "coffee break". Regardless of what you call it, I think it's essential to have something sweet beside that drink. Something not too heavy that will ruin your appetite for dinner; just a little "something" to get you through the rest of the day. These shortbread cookies are just the answer. I love the touch of fleur de sel sprinkled on top- again, that combination of sweet and salty will get you every time( or at least it gets me!)

I did some playing around with the photos , practicing all kinds of lighting and positions. I know the photo above probably goes against all the rules, with the shadows  etc. but I actually like it so here it is.

I recently bought a large "slice" of an olive tree while we were visiting the Druze village of Ussifiya in the north of Israel ( more on that trip in an upcoming post). The carpenter sanded it and cleaned it up for me, then oiled it to bring out the gorgeous grains.  I used it as my background and I love the effect it gives.

 

Making these was not difficult , but still a bit tricky. It is important to get the right texture and not overwork the dough. I think I still need to practice it a few times to get the correct feel. It broke apart somewhat during the rolling which probably was a result of the dough being too cold. Below are the first batch results- tried dipping them in chocolate, but wasn't happy with the way it looked or tasted to be honest. Some were rolled too thin, and over-baked.  The final batch came out the best. All the cookies were good, even the well done ones! I like this recipe because it lends itself to playing around with lots of flavors. Next time I'll try some vanilla and add a hint of orange flavor as well. 

You can find the recipe here on Baked Sunday Mornings.