Coffee Fingers for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Growing up, Christmas cookies were always a big part of the season. Both of my extended families would get together for a big Christmas dinner. Each family would bring a few kinds of cookies they had made and all the cookies would be arranged on a big platter, creating a giant mound of deliciousness! The plate would be passed around the table again and again until you lost of count of how many little Christmas cookies you had already eaten, because you would keep seeing cookie kinds you didn’t see the first time around.

I always had my favourite kinds and generally chose the same ones each year. It wasn’t until I started going to my husband’s family gatherings and learned of a whole new range of Christmas cookies that I really embraced the shortbread cookie and all it had to offer. My husband has an aunt who is just an all time pro at making shortbreads and I quickly became a fan of the Melting Moments and Coffee Fingers. We, of course, had to find the recipe to master these ourselves. I also learned from my mother-in-law that adding extra coffee to the filling in a Coffee Finger really takes this cookie to a whole new level.

Before I share the recipe for Coffee Fingers, I would like to share some tips for making shortbreads that I have learned from the generations of shortbread making pros before me.

1. Beat the butter a lot!
2. Do not beat or mix the batter much after the rest of the ingredients have been added to the batter. Just mix until everything is incorporated.
3. Chilling the dough is not necessary if you are using a cookie press, but it may be needed if you are going to roll it out with a rolling pin.
4. Use pastry flour for the best shortbreads. Or if you are like us and don’t like to stock too many kinds of flour, make your own pastry flour. This is done by adding cornstarch to all-purpose flour. The recipe below is already modified for this method.
5. Bake enough but not too much. Under baked shortbread is not good. Burnt shortbread is also not good. Take the cookies out once the edges are turning a bit golden brown.

These will store excellently in a tight lidded container in the freezer so feel free to make ahead!

Enjoy.

If you are in the market for a cookie press here are a few from Amazon:

1. Plastic cookie press
2. Stainless cookie press

For some more recipes for your Christmas holiday:

Try a perfect Quiche recipe or Breakfast Casserole for your Christmas morning brunch.

Or, find a Salted Caramel Mocha recipe for your movie watching Christmas Eve party!

Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog or follow us over on Instagram @cookingthroughgenerations to never miss a new recipe or blog!

Coffee Fingers

Recipe by trishamartin07Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

35

servings

Prep time

45

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

The perfect buttery shortbread is a skill worth mastering!

Ingredients

• Shortbread

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1/3 cup icing sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup cornstarch

• Filling

• 2 tsp instant coffee (cut back if you don’t want as strong coffee flavour)

• 1 1/2 tsp hot water

• 3 Tbsp butter

• 1 cup icing sugar

• Chocolate

• Semisweet Chocolate chips

• Paraffin Wax or shortening (if you want it to be shiny)

Directions

• Shortbread
• Cream butter very well!
• Add remaining ingredients and mix everything together. Do not overmix or your cookies will be tough.
• Use a cookie press with the biscuit disc to make long strips of dough. Cut the dough into equal squares and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies grow slightly during baking. Alternatively, roll out the dough to 1/8″-1/4″ thickness and cut into squares or roll into balls and flatten.
• Bake at 325°F for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are just turning golden. Let cool.
• Filling
• Dissolve coffee granules in hot water.
• Mix with remaining ingredients.
• Assemble cookies like a sandwich with icing in the middle.
• Chocolate
• Melt chocolate chips and wax/shortening in microwave.
• Dip cookies diagonally into the chocolate. Place on wax paper or parchment. You can place the cookies in the fridge to speed up hardening process.

Notes

• If you don’t have a cookie press, you can roll out the dough thinly. You may need to refrigerate dough before being able to roll it. You can also roll them in a ball and squish them with the bottom of a glass if you want round shortbreads.