Experiment: Iced ube shortbread

When I heard that Trader Joe's came out with their own ube shortbread cookies, I had to get a box! Then I remembered my failed hunt a few years ago to get their ube ice cream and crossed out that goal. (I have moved on, but I still have yet to try any!) So instead of stalking TJ's, I've made my own ube shortbread cookie.

I have not tried ube shortbread, but I've tried many shortbread cookies, my favorite being ones from Hawaii by Big Island Candies. Second favorite being ones from a family-owned company in California called Kelley's Kookies. (The founding baker also came from Hawaii!) Third is Walker's with the plaid box, and fourth are the cheaper Danish ones in the blue tin. Well, those aren't really my favorites, but if they're the only ones available, they get eaten.

Instead of using a specific ube shortbread cookie recipe from online, I used this highly rated shortbread one from YouTube blogger John Kanell's Preppy Kitchen:

Preppy Kitchen's Shortbread Cookies

I made 3 modifications. The first mod was adding in 1/2 teaspoon of Butterfly brand ube extract and a little extra butter to compensate for the added liquid. The second mod was adding a pinch of pink Himalayan salt to the Kosher salt. That salt adds a nice finish at the end of a bite.

(I also left the dough in the refrigerator for maybe 3 hours instead of 1 hour since I ran off to do some errands after prepping.) 

When I came back, I removed the log of dough to let it defrost for 15 minutes while I wondered how I should garnish, which leads me to my third modification: sugar.

I didn't want the ube shortbread to look like baked purple clay, so after cutting the log into slices, I dowsed each cookie dough into a granulated sugar bath. I figured this will complement its powdered sugar insides!

Once it got done baking, it looked glittery from the sugar coating. But I wanted a little extra. I wanted a glaze! You know, give the girls a manicure. So I used this recipe contributed on Food.com by Twingoddesses for a vanilla almond glaze (which, by the way, would be great on cinnamon rolls or doughnuts):

Vanilla Almond Glaze on Food.com

I could do better on uniformity and presentation, but in terms of taste, they turned out delicious. And since shortbread is flavorful and dense, I had just one.

Thankfully, they keep well.