This sounds close to my grandmother's recipe but hers had a little less sugar and a little more flour and no extract (the extract hides the rich butter taste). Hers made double the amount (4 cakes). She was from Glasgow, Scotland and her recipe was: 1 lb. butter 1/2 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar 1/2 cup fruit (superfine granulated) sugar Enough flour to make the correct consistency (she used part rice flour when she could get it) Don't you love old recipes? Since she passed away when I was seven, I never really learned the right consistency, but through years of trial and error, I came up with my own version that the whole family agreed was Nana's. I have also made 2 other changes. One is based on discovering KA White Whole Wheat Flour and the other is my Kitchen Aid 525W 6 quart mixer. Nana always mixed hers by hand but I'm sure she would have used a mixer if she'd had one that wouldn't burn up with the stiff dough. My recipe is: 1 lb. butter 1/2 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar 1/2 cup fruit (superfine granulated) sugar 2 cups KA All Purpose Flour 2 cups KA White Whole Wheat Flour 1 cup white rice four (if you don't have the rice flour, increase each of the other flours to 2 1/2 cups) I find it's much better after it has sat in a tin or other container for a day or two; the flavor seems to develop over time. I also have several variations. For one, I just add 1/2 cup of mini semi-sweet morsels by hand after the dough is thoroughly mixed. For another, I substitute 1 cup of Almond Flour (toasted or not) for 1/2 cup each of the All Purpose and White Whole Wheat and add 2 tsp. almond extract. Sometimes I just add some lemon extract and a touch of lemon oil for a lemon shortbread. The variations are endless. (dipped in melted chocolate and chopped pecans, adding chopped (fill in your favorite variety) nuts, adding chopped dried fruit of your choice....) I've also found that there are as many different recipes to make shortbread as there are people who love it! I'm partial to this one that tastes like my grandmother's; experiment around and you'll find your favorite. P.S. I always used to make mine in those stoneware molds - different patterns for different flavors. One trick I found was to make sure they are baked enough otherwise the design isn't too clear. Also, if you let them cool too long (more than 5 minutes) before you turn them out, they will stick. I got to the point where I found it easier to just form them into rounds freehand on my cookie sheets, dock them and use the fork to decorate the edges. I still have a few of the molds for decorative purposes. Liz, thank you SOOOOOO much for sharing. And yes, I love old recipes. Thanks for the tips, the variations - you're making me anxious to go make more shortbread! :) PJH

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