When we were taking our baby steps as chefs, one of our favorite teachers was Lydia, queen of the soup pots at the Strathallen Hotel in Rochester, New York. She grew up in Austria, so, of course, she knew plenty about baking. When we got to work in the morning, we'd taste that day's "zoop" (as she'd say in her strong accent), then watch as she demonstrated family baking recipes like this one. Grating the frozen shortbread dough into the baking pan gives it a lighter, more open texture; adding a middle layer of raspberry jam makes it stunningly delicious. For a chocolate-raspberry shortbread, substitute 1 cup cocoa for 1 cup of the flour.
Ingredients
Makes 12 to 16 large bars
Step 1
Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer) until soft and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and mix well.
Step 2
Mix the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to the butter and egg yolk mixture and mix just until incorporated and the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form into two balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze at least 2 hours or overnight (or as long as a month, if you like).
Step 3
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 4
Remove one ball of dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it by hand or with the grating disk in a food processor into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan or a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the surface is covered evenly with shreds of dough.
Step 5
With the back of a spoon or a flexible spatula, spread the jam over the surface, to within 1/2 inch of the edge all the way around. Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it over the entire surface.
Step 6
Bake until lightly golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. As soon as the shortbread comes out of the oven, dust with confectioners' sugar. Cool on a wire rack, then cut in the pan with a serrated knife.
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Reviews (38)
Back to TopI bake this in 2 8x8 pans. I use reduced sugar raspberry jam from Trader Joe’s which is also seedless. . I roll my dough into long snakes 2-3” wide , then freeze , to fit into the tube portion of my food processor. Easy cookie to make
jayne42856
Oakland NJ
2/21/2018
试着用一个挤花袋或者塑料冰箱bag and snip the corner off to make a piping bag to squeeze the room temperature jam on the first layer of dough.
CHEFIRISH
Drexel Hill, Pa
6/24/2014
I make this every Christmas for the past six years. My family and friends love it! I've made it with raspberry, apricot, chocolate with orange marmalade and this year I'm making chocolate raspberry. I bake the first layer for about 8 minutes and then warm up the jam in the microwave and spread it over, then add the second layer and bake. I cut these in to 2"x2" squares as they are very rich. Don't skip grating the dough and definitely do not press down the first layer. This recipe has become a Christmas tradition in my family.
heatherette508
Reading, PA
12/19/2011
I have been making this dessert for years and it's the one my sons ask me to make most often. I used to have them grate the dough on a box grater (a real knuckle buster) but now use my food processor with the same great results in much less time. Also, if you stir up the room temperature jam, it becomes liquid and spreads easily.These are fantastic and disappear fast - good thing because I found that they don't freeze well.
Anonymous
nashville TN
9/21/2011
Ive been making this recipe for years and am always asked to bring it to any party or gathering. Everyone LOVES it! It is my go-to dessert. It does take some planning since the dough must be made ahead of time. Also, Ive switched out the raspberry jam for lemon curd with the same fantastic results. Note: spreading the jam is definitely easier when the jam is at room temperature.
86themayo
Monterey, CA
9/5/2011
Just put this in the oven. I've made it at least a half dozen times over the last few years and always receive great raves! I make the dough ahead and leave in freezer until needed. This time I found the simple answer to grating. I flattened the dough into 6 inch discs, placed each into a separate zip lock bag and sliced while in the bag into five slices, zipped them up and froze them. The slices, about 1 1/2 wide, fit into an old Presto Salad Shooter to grate. When you want to bake, just pull dough from freezer, grate, spread jam and bake. It took less than 5 minutes to assemble and throw in the oven. I used to struggle w/ a frozen ball of dough, risking the loss of fingers trying to break apart w/ a chef's knife....not anymore!
Anonymous
boston
12/31/2010
Okay, it's a lot of work, but two suggestions (noted in part by other reviewers) help: one, use a food processor to grate the dough. Two, let the very-hard-frozen dough sit out for a half hour before grating. This is the singlar hardest (no pun intended) part of this recipe. I also used frozen raspberries, brought to room temperature, sprinkling with a couple of tablespoons of raw sugar instead of the jam (cooked it to dissolve the sugar and create spreadable fruit). Make sure you fully cool before slicing. This is an absolutely wonderful recipe.
BerlinBaby
Berlin, Germany
3/14/2010
For me, this recipe requires too much time and effort in proportion to the quality of the results. Traditional shortbread is one of the great cookies, in my opinion, so spending half an hour grating dough in order to achieve a lighter- textured cookie is simply not worth the time (or work). Because the dough is shredded, it is difficult to spread the jam over it, resulting in the need to add more jam in order to completely cover the dough base. Yhe final result is much too sweet. It's an interesting idea, but not one I'm going to use in the future.
eprn17
Philadelphia PA
1/15/2009
I have made this a few times now. It makes for a beautifully lighter texture. I do grate by hand since I think the powder I get from my processor is too fine. Don't be tempted to press the first layer! You'll lose the fluffiness. I thought the raspberry jam was too sweet and strong, so I tried it with Apple Pie Jam (a finer chopped apple pie filling) which was FANTASTIC!!! Just that touch of cinnamon really gives a lot to this recipe.
chefroden
Virginia
9/14/2007
I love this recipe but tweaked a bit myself. I use a larger bar pan because it is so rich and you don't lose anything in making the pieces thinner. I used an insulated pan and so 30 minutes of bake time still worked. I cut smaller pieces. I drizzled a lemon icing over the top and the lacing effect made it prettier as well as not as sweet as the powdered sugar. I added fresh lemon juice to the jam to cut the sweetness a bit. I am going to try lemon curd for a filling the next time as I think it will really compliment the sweet shortbread.
thorsmomma
Green Bay, WI
1/28/2007
I made this recently for a baby shower and received rave reviews. Instead of making bars, I baked it as a tart in a 9" springform pan and it came out beautifully. I highly recommend it - it's a wonderful treat!
Anonymous
pittsburgh, pa
11/21/2006
I made these for the second year in a row for Christmas gifts, using the chocolate variation this time. I get rave reviews on these. Definitely worth the effort!
unravled
Costa Mesa, CA
12/17/2005
My office mates raved about these. They were fabulous. Really, really rich, though. I didn't read all the reviews before I made the recipe, so I used all the butter called for, and it was actually just fine. I also put the dough in the freezer for about 2 hours, and didn't really have any problems grating. I'll try others' suggestion next time, but rest assured, the recipe is quite fabulous just the way it is.
cadamy
Oklahoma City, OK
11/14/2005
I have made this a number of times, using the regular recipe and the cocoa version as well. I have also mixed them up,using the cocoa dough for the base then adding the jam with some shredded sweetened coconut and topping that with the white dough. Any way you make this, it will be a huge hit.
Anonymous
Frederick, MD
1/6/2005
Raves from my work Coffee Hour Crew!! Follwing other recommendations, I used 3.5 sticks of butter which was more than enough. I also used 12 oz. of black raspberry jam which was more than plently...maybe even a little too much. I used a food processor...good time and arm saver. I pressed in the first layer, topped with jam, and lightly pressed in the second layer. Let dough sit for about 20 min so the pieces could defrost. Baking for 40 minutes was perfect. Next time trying with homemade strawberry jam!!
Anonymous
New Richmond
9/3/2004
