Another Gift Idea

Over-the-Rim Savory Rosemary Shortbread

The Cooking School at Jungle Jim's International Market just concluded a week of "Gifts from the Kitchen" classes that are an anticipated holiday tradition. Our next holiday class series begins the first week of December with a hands-on candy class, then a gourmet holiday desserts class and finally, the popular "Great Cookie Caper."  To help you jump start the season of giving, we invite you to try Savory Rosemary Shortbread which is a little bit cracker and a little bit cookie. We hope it puts you in the holiday spirit and encourages you to join us for some delicious holiday classes. 

This display gives you an idea of how unique an over-the-rim treat can be. Stack some in a cellophane bag, tie with a festive ribbon and attach to a favorite bottle of wine. What a great hostess gift!

Before you begin your preparations, take the butter out of the refrigerator. It should sit out for at least an hour before making the dough. Follow the directions below for making the dough, form into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. After chilling, place the disk on a lightly floured work surface.

Our sous chef, Debbie, likes to roll out dough that has been covered with a piece of plastic wrap. The dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin. You can choose not to use plastic wrap, just make sure your rolling pin has some flour on it. Roll to 1/4-inch thickness.

These cookie cutters are specially cut to allow the shortbread to hang over the rim of a glass. This star shape looks a little strange, but when baked, it hangs perfectly over the rim of a glass.
We found 4 available cutter shapes:  a star, a fluted circle, a heart and a sun burst. 

They are small, so you can fit a lot of them on a rimmed baking sheet.

They should bake until the edges just turn golden. Allow them to cool and then taste one! These are a perfect gift for the wine lover. Of course, you can skip the special over-the-rim cookie cutter and opt to use a small cutter to make savory shortbreads to enjoy with cocktails or for your cookie platter.

Savory Rosemary Shortbread

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon white sanding sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, room temperature

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 300°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon sanding sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

In a food processor with a metal blade, process the sugar for several minutes until the texture of the sugar becomes very fine. With the processor on, add the butter and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl; add rosemary and flour and process just until mixture turns to crumbly bits.

Scrape dough out of processor bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until mixture just holds together. Chill dough about 30 minutes for easier handling.

Roll the dough out on lightly floured parchment or other floured surface to a

¼-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using a 2-inch cutter and place on prepared baking sheet. (Scraps may be re-rolled 1-2 times) Sprinkle tops liberally with salt/sugar mixture.

Bake 15-18 minutes, until pale gold in color*. They should not brown. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Makes approximately 36 savory cookies

*If using over-the-rim cutters, check after baking 12 minutes. If space to hang cookies over-the-rim is closing, remove baking sheet from oven, use a sharp knife to gently re-open the space, and return to oven for 3-6 minutes until pale gold.