Egyptian shortbread

Ingredients

• 1 cup clarified butter (aka ghee or samneh), room temperature
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1/8 cup brandy
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

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Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 300°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until smooth.
• Add the brandy and the egg yolk, and mix until combined. Add the flour, mixing and scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Continue beating the dough until it comes together (initially it will be a crumbly mess, but with some patience, it turns out just right!).
• Form the dough into 2 large disks. Roll out 1 disk until it is 1/4 1/8 inch thick using powdered sugar so that the dough doesn't stick.
• Cut into circles with a glass dipped in powdered sugar (~2.5 inch diameter glass). Bake the cookies on a silpat lined baking sheet for about 8 12 minutes.
• The timing is highly dependent on how hot your oven is: if your oven is hotter (and heats to about 325°F), they may bake in as little as 8 minutes. Do not let them brown.
• Remove the pan from the oven, and place it on a wire rack to cool for a couple minutes before transferring the cookies to another rack to cool completely.
• Serve the cookies as is, or sprinkled generously with more powdered sugar.