Petticoat Tail Shortbread

My husband's birthday is today and he loves lemon meringue pie, so I decided to make him one. The plan was to make a shortbread crust, but when I removed it from the oven, it was apparent that it would make a terrible crust because it was so thick. There wouldn't be any space for the filling! So I made a different pie crust recipe for the lemon meringue pie and just sprinkled the shortbread with cinnamon sugar, then cut it into wedges to make petticoat tail shortbread. How adorable is the term "petticoat tails" for shortbread? Anyway, it's cooled now and is so, SO good. Buttery and crumbly and just cookie perfection. Amazing how something so simple can taste so great! The recipe may have flopped as a pie crust (though I suspect it would have worked if halved), but it makes delectable shortbread cookies.

Quick note: Here and here are some links with interesting information about the history of shortbread if you're like me and enjoy reading about your food! This isn't a completely authentic Scottish shortbread recipe because it uses wheat flour instead of oat flour and I add salt to enhance the flavor, but it's really good anyway. Cinnamon is also not part of the original, but everything is better with cinnamon. Next time I'll try topping it with lemon sugar. I'd imagine lemon zest combined with white sugar and allowed to steep for a while would make a pretty rockin' shortbread topping!

Petticoat Tail Shortbread

1 C salted butter
1/2 C sugar
2 C flour
1/4 t salt
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in flour and salt. Press dough into the bottom of an ungreased 9 inch pie plate or cake pan, prick all over with a fork, and bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and immediately sprinkle with cinnamon sugar to taste, then cut into wedges. Leave in pan to cool. Store cooled shortbread in an airtight container (or just cover the pan with foil).

Yield: 8 servings