Scottish Shortbread Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups of high quality butter (room temperature)
• 3/4 cup sugar (ground or confectioners*)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (ground**)
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt***
• 1.5 cups of oat flour****
• 3.25 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch*****

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Line a 9x13" pan with parchment paper, extra going up the sides*
3. Use a pastry cutter/dough blender to mix the butter and sugar(s)**
4. Mix the flours/salt/cornstarch in a separate bowl
5. Incorporate the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture***
6. Place in pan, press the dough until it's spread out and even
7. Cut score marks into the dough
8. Bake 35-40 minutes until golden on top
9. Leave in pan about 5 minutes to cool
10. Cut along the lines, cool on a wire rack
11. Add toppings (optional)

Notes on the Ingredients

*Scottish shortbread recipes typically call for golden caster sugar which is not really a thing in the States. While you could use confectioners sugar as a replacement for the caster sugar, I prefer to take a good sugar like Florida Crystals Organic Pure Cane Sugar, and use a Ninja blender to pulse it into a fine powder.

**I also do the same things with Florida Crystals Organic Brown Raw Cane Sugar. You don't have to use brown sugar if you don't have have/want it. Just add the sugar amount to the regular sugar, or cut back on the sugar total if you prefer.

***Using unsalted butter? Consider using 3/4 teaspoon or up to 1 teaspoon of salt instead.

****I make oat flour by pulsing regular quick oats (oatmeal) in the blender as well. You can buy oat flour or make it.

*****The cornstarch adds a little more "melt in your mouth" feel to the shortbread.  Feel free to omit and replace with oat or all-purpose flour.

Notes on the Instructions

*You can also grease a pan instead of using parchment paper. I prefer to use parchment paper and a springform pan for simple removal. Don't want them to crumble. Springform pans can be expensive, especially if you don't have 9x13 rectangular one. Two 8 inch round cake pans can also be used. On that note, you can cut the recipe in half and use one 8 inch round cake pan. The full recipe makes 32 shortbread fingers. A round cake pan will make 16 shortbread wedges.

**You can also use a food processor to mix. I don't have one, but it should work. 

***Use some muscle or a food processor. You can even use your hands, but this isn't ideal because the heat from your hands will melt the butter into the dough, and the results are best if you don't do that. But do what you have to do because it'll still be delicious.

Shortbread is delicious on its own (all that butter! mmm), but it's also fantastic dipped/drizzled with things like caramel and chocolate (sounds like a homemade Twix bar, right? but *so* much better).

I topped some of these with melted caramel chips and semi-sweet chocolate.

An example of what the wedges look like if you use a round pan.

Shortbread smells amazing when baking, just ask this nose!

Chocolate Avocado Banana Bread

Chocolate Avocado Banana Bread

Prep

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan (I used avocado oil)

Dry Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients

• 3 Tired Bananas (overripe, spotty brown)
• 1 Tired Avocado (ripe, soft, easy to mush)
• 1 Egg (Chicken or Flax) at room temperature
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (fluffy, not pressed)
• 1/4 Cup Walnut Oil
• 1.5 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Toppings

• Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (Optional)
• Walnuts (Optional)

Mixing Instructions

• Whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl
• Mash/puree bananas and avocado in a larger bowl
• Stir remaining wet ingredients into the mashed fruit
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients about 1/3 a time, stir until fully incorporated
• Transfer to loaf pan and even it out
• Sprinkle with toppings and gently press into batter

Baking Instructions

• Bake for 50-55 minutes
• Let cool in pan for 15-20 minutes
• Finish cooling on a wire rack

Notes 

• The ingredients listed above are exactly what I used for the banana bread in the photo. Banana bread is rather versatile and forgiving. I often switch up the ingredients and ratios depending on what I have on hand, or if I need to make a vegan, gluten-free, or allergy-free version.
• You can use 1 cup of regular flour, or all almond flour, or a mix of coconut and almond flour if you are looking to cut carbs or make it gluten-free.
• The walnut oil can be replaced with 1/2 stick of melted butter, or a 1/4 cup of avocado oil, coconut oil, pecan oil, olive oil, or other oil you use for baking.
• If you're looking for a vegan version or just some added fiber, use a flax egg, which you can make by combining 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of room temperature water, and letting it sit for 10-20 minutes. You could probably use chia seed as well.
• Traditional banana bread usually calls for 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar, which I find excessively sweet. I usually use 1/4 cup or no sugar in plain banana bread. This recipe has a 1/2 cup of cocoa powder which reduces some of the sweetness from the bananas, so I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar which makes it "reasonably" sweet. You can use more or less depending on your preferences. If you use less than 1/4 cup of sugar, you may want to add an additional banana for sweetness and moisture.
• Toppings - try what you like. Coconut? Pecans? Why not. Drizzle with warm peanut or almond butter after? Yes, please.
• Banana bread coffee buzz? Sure, add some instant espresso to the batter, maybe dissolved into a flax egg first. Just got for it.

Enjoy your "Millennial" Banana Bread!