What's cooking: Brownsugar ginger shortbread

It doesn't look particularly spectacular, but trust me, it's good. And it earned rave reviews at this weekend's opera rehearsal. At one of the breaks I heard someone from the stage shouting down "Sophie's mom! Where is Sophie's mom?!" I thought "Oh, no. What now?" [From time to time parents are called up to discuss their children's suboptimal behavior. Could it be our turn?] But the stage manager merely held up the piece of shortbread Sophie had taken up to the staff and said "Very good. Very good!!" It's also super easy and can be doubled to feed a crowd. I'm all about bar cookies when I'm baking for a crowd.



BROWN SUGAR GINGER SHORTBREAD

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 to 1 cup crystallized ginger, chopped*
turbino sugar (optional)

Spray a 9x9-inch pan with canola spray and line with parchment or wax paper, leaving some paper hanging over the edges of the pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together dry ingredients.

Cream butter and sugar.

Add in dry ingredients.

Fold in crystallized ginger. Sprinkle with turbino sugar if using (it gives a nice sparkle)

Press into a 9x9 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

When it has cooled a little, lift the shortbread out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into squares with a sharp knife.

* The crystallized ginger can be a little tricky. If it is fairly dry, it will go through a food processor well. If it is a little moist, it can gum up the blades and form into a big ball. Adding a few spoon of flour along with the ginger to the food processor before turning it on will help with this. Else, you can just resort to using a knife.

As are all shortbreads, this is pretty rich, and a small square pairs nicely with fresh fruit.I served this at the opera rehearsal and for Sunday dinner dessert with watermelon slices. It is, however, moister and less crumbly than a traditional shortbread. No complaints about that!