Tonka Bean Shortbread

While scouring the internet for a tonka bean cake recipe, I stumbled across two very smart food blogs from Canada, Food Mama and Dinner with Julie.  Instead of finding cake, I found a tasty recipe for shortbread a la Dinner with Julie.  Fortunately for me and the Canadian bloggers, we are not subject to the vagaries of the United States Food and Drug Administration and can fairly easily purchase the fragrant and flavorful tonka bean for our baking needs.

Slightly crispy around the edges, but still very tasty.

For those of you in the USA, I would wager that the shortbread would taste fab without tonka beans, too.

Here is the recipe from Dinner with Julie:

Tonka Bean Shortbread

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. finely grated Tonka bean (optional – experiment with different spices, too!)

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and salt with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.

Add the flour and grated Tonka bean and stir just until you have a soft dough. Shape it into two logs, wrap and refrigerate for an hour (or up to a few days) or freeze for up to 6 months.

When ready to bake, slice 1/4″ thick and bake on a parchment-lined sheet at 350F for 15 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.