Christmas Nut & Fruit Shortbread Bars
Submitted by happyzhangbo
Buttery shortbread bars topped with pecans, dried cherries, mini chocolate chips, and orange marmalade. A two-step bake that turns simple cookies into festive holiday treats in about an hour.
YIELD
16 servingsPREP
26 minCOOK
22 minREADY
66 minStart with a crumbly, buttery shortbread base. Add a topping of pecans, dried fruit, chocolate chips, and sticky orange marmalade. Bake twice. Done.
These bars are the intersection of a classic shortbread cookie and a holiday fruitcake, but without any of the fruitcake baggage.
The shortbread gets its first bake until the edges just start to turn golden. Then the fruit-nut topping goes on and everything returns to the oven for another 8 minutes. The marmalade melts into a glossy glue that holds the pecans and fruit in place while adding a bittersweet citrus note.
Makes 16 bars. Best eaten within two days, or freeze them for later.
Kitchen Tips
- Don’t overmix the shortbread dough. Add flour gradually and stop the moment it comes together. Overworking makes it tough instead of crumbly.
- Chill the dough if it gets greasy. Fifteen minutes in the fridge and it’s easy to roll again.
- Mix up the dried fruit. Cranberries, prunes, dried apricots, or blueberries all work. Use whatever combination looks the most festive.
- Use a cold, ungreased baking sheet. Greased pans make shortbread spread too thin.
Ingredients
Directions
For the shortbread cookies:
Preheat the oven to 300 F degrees.
Cream the butter with the sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer.
In a small bowl, whisk the salt and flour, and then add into the butter, ¼ cup at a time, just until uniform. Do not overmix.
Gather the dough into a ball, refrigerate for 15 minutes if the dough is beginning to soften or feel too greasy to work with.
Roll the dough out to ½-inch and cut into rectangles about ½-inch by 2 - inch.
Arrange on a cold, ungreased baking sheet.
Bake until the edges are just beginning to turn golden, 19 to 21 minutes.
Make 16 shortbread cookies.
Meanwhile, to make the fruit and nut topping:
In a small bowl, combine together the pecans, dried fruits, and chocolate chips with the orange marmalade.
After baking for about 20 minutes, remove the cookies from the oven and spread the fruit and nut topping on the tops of the shortbread to make bars.
Return to the oven and bake for 8 more minutes.
Let cool enough to handle before serving.
Best result will be within two days or freeze for later use.
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