Vanilla Bean Shortbread with Berries and Whipped Cream

This shortbread recipe comes together really quickly and easily. Half of the butter is swapped out for canola oil, making them lighter and crisper than your typical shortbread.

Once again I turned to my bottle of vanilla bean paste rather than use an actual vanilla bean. It's just more economical and I don't know if there really is a difference in flavor. If anyone has any opinions, please let me know. Maybe I'll have to give in and buy some vanilla beans some day!

I thought berries would make a good addition so their juice would soak into the shortbread a little -- kind of like biscotti with coffee. Mmmmmm... and well, honestly who can eat berries without whipped cream? We served this as part of our Memorial Day party spread and everyone seemed to enjoy it.


If you look closely, you can see the tiny, black vanilla bean specks in the shortbread.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread
from Cooking Light May 2009 and online

Makes 32 servings (serving size: 1 piece)

Ingredients

* Cooking spray
* 9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup canola oil
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 TBL Vanilla Bean Paste)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Line bottom and sides of a 13 x 9–inch baking pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray, and set aside.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Place butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add oil; beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean, and add seeds to butter mixture; discard bean. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Spoon dough into prepared pan. Place a sheet of heavy-duty plastic wrap over dough; press to an even thickness. Discard plastic wrap. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; cut into 32 pieces. Carefully lift foil from pan; cool squares completely on a wire rack.

***To make the toppings, I combined blueberries, raspberries, and diced strawberries with sugar (to taste depending on your desired sweetness).

Whipped cream was made by whipping heavy cream with an electric mixer and adding a little powdered sugar (to taste again depending on your desired sweetness).***

Nutritional Information for Shortbread provided by Cooking Light
Calories: 101
Fat: 6.4g (sat 2.1g,mono 2.8g,poly 1.2g)
Protein: 0.9g
Carbohydrate: 10.1g
Fiber: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 8mg
Iron: 0.4mg
Sodium: 39mg
Calcium: 2mg