Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019 – 2024!
It’s back!!!
Welcome to Day 1 of
The 12 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 – 2024 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!
For today’s recipe, I’ve got an easy shortbread recipe because, during the holidays, I can’t NOT bake (and eat!) shortbread! The very first “12 Days” recipe I ever shared back in 2019 was an Easy 3-Ingredient Shortbread, and last year I shared an Orange Shortbread with a sweet glaze because you can never have too many shortbread recipes!
I recently made this recipe as part of an experiment with my Grade 3 and 4 classes – who are investigating “change”. We made 4 versions of this – regular, vegan (using plant-based butter), gluten-free (using GF flour) and “healthy” (using whole-wheat flour, margarine and Stevia instead of sugar). We had a taste test at the end and recorded our findings – all four versions were edible but the regular version got the most votes for taste, texture and appearance.
Today’s version only adds citrus zest to the recipe – both orange and lemon zest for extra brightness!
This version is definitely sweeter than the English nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons (“Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head! Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead” <<< nursery rhymes and fairy tales can be so violent!!) LOL!
Oranges and Lemons Shortbread
Citrusy shortbread - perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- Zest of 1/2 lemon and 1 clementine (approx. 1 heaping tablespoon, total)
- 113g (1 stick/ 8 tablespoons) salted butter, room temperature
- 150g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- approx. 1/2 tablespoon demerara, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 300˚F.
- Prepare an 8-inch loaf tin by lining it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on each side to make the shortbread easy to remove.
- Rub the citrus zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Beat the butter using an electric hand mixer on high speed until it's light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add the 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to beat on high speed until the mixture is creamy and pale.
- Add the flour a little at a time and beat on low speed until just combined. It will not look like it is ready, but if you pinch a small amount of the dough together, it should stick. If it doesn't, continue to mix a minute or so more.
- Press the mixture into the lined loaf tin, making sure it's evenly distributed in the tin.
- Sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly over 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 12 pieces. Store in an airtight container
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More treats to come – stay tuned for the next 11 days of deliciousness!
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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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