Shortbread is the easiest of all the cookies. It is probably also the worst (sweet tap dancing Death, no one prove me wrong). Those ones up there have candied pineapple and fresh cranberries in them. Also the obligatory powdered sugar.

Shortbread

1/2 c room temperature butter

1/3 c granulated sugar

2 1/2 c flour

Preheat oven to 350o

Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer (or really hard with a spoon) until light and fluffy. If butter gets over the border from fluffy to out and out melty, stick it in the freezer for a few and try again. Gradually add flour, beating slowly until blended. Line a baking sheet with lightly greased tin foil and press the dough out until about 3/4 of an inch thick.

Bake for 15-20 minutes/until the right level of golden browness.

Slice with dull knife into squares.

KickAss Cookie Mods

Want kitchy theme cookies? Make them into shapes. Nothing says support our Psychology Department quite like cookie shaped like amygdalae. Like Eddie Izzard, want more jam? Form raw dough into balls and use your thumb to make an indent in the cookies. Bake for 15 minutes, take cookies out of the oven, spoon some jam into them, bake 5 minutes more. Want them more zazzy? Put other awesome things in the thumbprint, like candied pinapple, melted chocolate, dried fruit, nuts etc etc and bake like the jam mod. Want to make posh squiggles on things? Glaze is what I get away with calling jam/syrup + enough powdered sugar its solid enough to spread/squiggle. You can make it from any kind of fruit juice as well. So maybe candied lemon peels with a squiggle of blood orange glaze? Want that perfect brown color? Make an egg wash. Egg, scrambled + 1 Tablespoon of water, mixed and brushed on top of anything before cooking makes it brown that perfect color.