Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019 – 2023!
Welcome to Day 2 of
The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!
Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!
The recipes I’m sharing are small-er batch – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim. Check out the treats from 2019 – 2023 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!
One of my favourite holiday treats is shortbread and typically I am a traditionalist but then again, I love me some oranges/ clementines at Christmas too so I figured why not combine the two?
This recipe calls for both the zest and juice of a clementine (because what’s worse than zesting a clementine and not needing the juice? The fruit will most likely hang out in my fridge until I forget about it…). Depending on the size of your clementine, you might need the zest but not the juice of 2 but at that point, I’d juice both, use what I need and enjoy a little shot of the rest as I’m cleaning up!
These come together quickly and use only a handful of ingredients. They are that “melt in your mouth” texture so handle them delicately, especially when they are hot. And make sure you let them cool completely before you cut them (carefully!).
Orange Shortbread
Irresistible orange shortbread - perfect for the holidays or anytime!
Ingredients
For the shortbread:
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 clementine (approx. 1 tablespoon)
- 113g (1 stick/ 8 tablespoons) salted butter, room temperature
- 150g (1 cup) all purpose flour
- approx 1/2 tablespoon raw or demerara sugar, for sprinkling
For the icing drizzle:
- 1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
- 1-2 tablespoons clementine juice
- Extra zest (optional)
Instructions
Make the shortbread
- Pre-heat oven to 350˚F.
- Prepare an 8-inch loaf tin by lining it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on each side so the shortbread is easy to remove.
- Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it’s the texture of damp sand and quite orange.
- Beat the butter and sugar on high speed until it's light and fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Add the flour a little at a time and beat on low speed until just combined.
- Press the mixture into the lined loaf tin, making sure it's evenly distributed in the tin.
- Sprinkle the raw sugar evenly on top of the dough.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Allow the shortbread to cool in the tin for a few minutes before removing (using the overhanging parchment paper) and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the shortbread into 10-12 pieces.
- In a small bowl, combine the clementine juice and icing sugar until it’s smooth. It should be runny.
- Place the shortbread pieces on a wire rack.
- Place the rack over a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Use a small spoon to drizzle a bit of the glaze over the shortbread pieces. If you like, sprinkle a little more zest over the top of the shortbread.
- Allow the glaze to set (it won’t set very hard) and store in airtight containers (with parchment or wax paper between layers) at room temperature for 5 days.
Make the glaze and ice the shortbread:
Notes
They are that "melt in your mouth" texture so handle them delicately, especially when they are hot. And make sure you let them cool completely before you cut them (carefully!).
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Enjoy the orange-y goodness!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recipe!
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Check out 2024’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Browned Butter Holiday Rice Krispie Squares
Day 2: Orange Shortbread
Day 3: Festive Macaroons
Day 4: Chocolate Wheatie Cookies
Day 5: Raspberry Coconut Squares
Day 6: Lemon Curd Tartlets
Day 7: Granola Cookies
Day 8: Lemon Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
Day 9: Cranberry Almond Squares
Day 10: Chocolate Caramel Cups
Day 11: Cheese Crackers
Day 12: No-bake Almond Cranberry Slice
Check out 2023’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Holiday Speckles
Day 2: Soft Chocolate Mint Sugar Cookies
Day 3: Funfetti Thumbprint Cookies with Ruby Drop Centres
Day 4: Chocolate Orange Creme Cups
Day 5: Chocolate Filled Shortbread Cups
Day 6: Pistachio Fruit Bread Crackers
Day 7: Pistachio Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Day 8: Iced Mocha Financier Bars (GF)
Day 9: Lemon Meringue Thumbprint Cookies
Day 10: Chocolate Hazelnut Financiers
Day 11: Cranberry, Almond and Pistachio “truffles”
Day 12: Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies (GF)
Check out 2022’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Chocolate Peppermint Creme Cups
Day 2: Chocolate-Dipped Wafer Cookies
Day 3: Gingerbread madeleines
Day 4: Funfetti Cookies
Day 5: Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Day 6: Coffee Financiers
Day 7: No-Bake Strawbery Cheesecake Cups
Day 8: Holiday Joys
Day 9: Holiday Spice Marmalade
Day 10: Soft Molasses Cookies
Day 11: Coconut Roughs
Day 12: Holiday Lights Jam Sandwich Cookies
Check out 2021’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Speculoos financiers
Day 2: Chocolate Dipped Orange Sugar Cookies
Day 3: Madeleines à la Clémentine
Day 4: Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
Day 5: Sunbutter and Jam Chocolate Cups
Day 6: Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Cookies
Day 7: Linzer Cookies
Day 8: Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
Day 9: Choc-Mint Thumbprint Cookies
Day 10: Pailles (Puff Pastry and Jam Cookies)
Day 11: Strawberry Santa Hats
Day 12: Mulled Wine Jam
Check out 2020’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Rice Krispie Wreaths
Day 2: Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Day 3: Peppermint Bark
Day 4: Orangettes
Day 5: Rocky Road Chocolate Crackle Slice
Day 6: Candy Cane Sugar Cookies
Day 7: Orange Pim’s
Day 8: Mendiants
Day 9: Chewy Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies
Day 10: Apricot, Coconut and Cranberry “truffles”
Day 11: Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Brownies
Day 12: Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Check out 2019’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:
Day 1: Easy Three Ingredient Shortbread
Day 2: Jam Drops
Day 3: Chocolate Caramel Slice
Day 4: Melting Moments
Day 5: White Christmas
Day 6: Langues de Chat
Day 7: Chocolate Coconut Slice
Day 8: Cornflake Biscuits
Day 9: Rocky Road
Day 10: Honey Joys
Day 11: Rum Ball Truffles
Day 12: Giant Florentine Cookie (to share)
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