Kumquats Continued ...

Citrus Shortbread Cookies
Thanks to Sugar Coated Kitchen for the base recipe for these cookies!

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 cup plus 1 TB flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB minced orange zest
1/2 TB minced lemon zest
1 TB fresh lemon juice
2 kumquats, seeded and minced finely

I cut the original recipe in half, so the ingredients listed here will make about 15 medium sized cookies, so if you want more than that it will be easy to double the ingredients!


1. Sift the flour, cornstarch and salt together into a bowl.
2. Using a mixer, cream the butter (which should be at room temp) on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the orange and lemon zests, as well as minced kumquat and lemon juice.

3. Add the confectioners' sugar to the mixing bowl (sifting as you add it) and cream together until the mix is smooth, scraping down with a spatula if you need to.
4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until all the ingredients are blended well. My dough was still a little sticky, so I knew if I emptied it right onto the counter I wouldn't be able to roll it out well. If you run into this too, simply put the dough in a container and put into the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
5. Once the dough is firmer, empty it out onto a floured surface. First you'll want to shape the dough as best you can into a square shape. Then you can roll the dough out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Mine didn't roll out into a great rectangle, so my cookies weren't all evenly shaped, but it's ok - it makes them look more homemade! Cut the cookies as closely as you can into square shapes about 2-inches wide.
6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Be sure to spray your cookie sheet with nonstick spray so that the cookies don't stick - and place them at least an inch apart because they may spread out a bit as they cook. The original recipe said to bake for 20-25 minutes, and as my tips said a couple weeks ago - I baked mine for 15 minutes and they were done! So be careful not to overcook! Once the cookies are a little cooled, sift confectioners' sugar over the top of the cookies and serve with the candied kumquat on the side for people to top their cookies with if they'd like!