Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies

By maredan

Ingredients

• vanilla bean sandwich cookies
• 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (125g) sugar
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (save the pod to stick in vanilla sugar or a tall bottle of vanilla extract)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups (300g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (70g) strawberry lemonade curd (recipe follows)
• strawberry lemonade curd
• zest of 3 lemons
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup (190g) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• juice of 3 lemons (about 1/3 cup, or 80 mL)
• Pulp from 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, thawed, and pressed through a sieve (about 1/4 cup, or 60g)
• pinch of salt

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in vanilla bean scrapings. Incorporate in salt and flour, and mix until just incorporated.

2. Place dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat oven 375 degrees (190 Celsius). Roll out dough and cut into circles (or whatever else you want, of course), refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes, and then and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly firm.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together zest, butter, and sugar. Incorporate eggs one at a time and mix until smooth. Add in lemon juice, strawberry pulp, and salt. Mixture will curdle.

2. Pour mixture into a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Lemon curd will come together and thicken. When it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, remove from heat. Strain into a glass bowl and allow to cool. Refrigerate or freeze until you need it.