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06/03/1999 Archived Entry: "Extra! Extra! Pine Nut and Rosemary Shortbread"

That Melanie Barnard. She’s roasting rhubarb, making sorbets in the food processor with frozen canned fruit, and breaking rules to create this unusually flavored and unusually delicate shortbread. Instead of creaming the butter with sugar before adding the rest of the ingredients, as usual, she melts the butter, then add the remaining four ingredients are quickly stirs them it.

I ate them on the air on Food Talk today, went wild with joy, and now, naturally, everyone wants the recipe. Food Talk listeners requested I repeat it but, always reluctant to do that (there are all sorts of sound broadcasting reasons you don’t need me to outline at this moment), I promised to put the recipe here today. By the way the cookies aren’t really Tuscan. Melanie was inspired by the combination of pine nuts and rosemary in some biscotti she ate in Tuscany.

The recipe comes from her new book, Short and Sweet: Sophisticated Desserts in No Time at All.
(If you want more information about books that I mention, or want to purchase one, I have been giving connections to Amazon.com. However, I’m told that the links sometimes do not work. If you experience trouble, but still want to check out a book, click on the Amazon.com logo on my home page. Thanks for your patience while I work out such glitches.)



Tuscan Rosemary and Pine Nut Bars
Makes 16 2-inch square cookies

1/4 cup pine nuts
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Toast, stirring once or twice to prevent burning, until they are a shade darker and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Watch carefully; pine nuts burn easily. Remove from the baking sheet and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, rosemary, and pine nuts. Then stir in the flour to make a stiff dough.
Spread and pat the dough evenly into an ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake until the bars are golden and firm at the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool the pan on a rack for about 2 minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut into 16 squares. Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing them with a small spatula. (The bars can be stored, tightly covered, for up to 5 days or frozen for 1 month.)