Spruce Tree Shortbread

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Spruce Tree Shortbread

Recipe by Aube Giroux of PBS's Kitchen Vignettes

Cooking with spruce is magical. It fills up the house with the fragrance of a sweet-scented forest and makes it feel oh-so-Christmassy! These spruce tree shortbread cookies are also a lovely gift. 

Ingredients

For the shortbread cookies:
3 tablespoons spruce needles (from an unsprayed, wild tree)
1/2 cup granulated cane sugar
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour

For the spruce icing:
Roughly 2 tablespoons spruce needles (from an unsprayed, wild tree)
1 1/2 cup powdered (icing) sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. To make the cookies: In a coffee grinder, food processor, or Vitamix, grind the spruce needles until bright green and powdery. Add the sugar and grind until the sugar is powdery and the spruce powder is integrated with the sugar. You may need to stir with the end of a wooden spoon between grinding to keep the spruce powder from clumping in the corners.

2. Beat the room-temperature butter. Add the spruce sugar and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour until incorporated (don’t overmix). If your dough feels overly dry, add a scant teaspoon of milk. Roll the dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, and wrap and chill in the fridge for one hour or up to 24 hours. (The longer the better, as this will give your dough time to absorb the spruce flavor).

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Roll out the cookies to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured countertop. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 8 to 10 minutes or until edges turn slightly golden. Allow cookies to cool completely before icing.

4. To make the icing: Grind the spruce needles as you did for the cookies, but mix the powdered sugar and spruce powder together by hand. Add the milk, 2 tablespoons to begin. Mix well. Add more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the icing has reached a smooth and spreadable consistency.

5. Decorate the cookies with the icing and serve, or hang on your tree! Cookies will keep for about a week in a cookie tin kept in a cool place.