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20 July, 2012

Biscuits Maison...French Stamped Shortbread Cookies

Here’s something I have been wanting to try…French stamped cookies!  I first saw the cookie stamp on a beautiful Italian blog La Buca delle Fate here and knew I had to have it! But…it was not easy to find!

bkIt seemed that it had to be ordered from a bookstore in France and I think I bought the last one even at that.  Then I waited…and waited…and finally my package arrived! Woo hoo! Baby Kitty seems totally unimpressed, however!

bookThe cookie stamp comes with a beautiful little book called Biscuits Maison (Homemade Cookies)  filled with recipes for pretty French cookies. Of course, the recipes and directions are all in French…not a problem for me to read, but the ingredients never quite deliver the same result as they do in France. I made this discovery in France doing the reverse…making American cookies with French ingredients…which turned out looking more like crèpes!  It must be the flour that is somehow different. And needless to say…the measurements and oven temperatures are all metric or worse. I will have to do a post about my cooking adventures in France some day! It was a challenge! 

cookiesSooo…I opted to skip the cookbook for now and use an American recipe for shortbread cookies which you will find at the end of this post! However, to give them that certain frenchy je ne sais quoi I decided that I would add some food coloring inspired by these wonderfully pretty and yummy macarons from Laudrée in Paris! Even a visit to their web site is a delight! I dare not even dream of attempting them, but I could attempt to mimic their gorgeous pastel colors!

cloche2 And here is the result…some very buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies pretending to be French and hanging out under a very frenchy cloche! One of these days I will be brave and attempt one of the French recipes when the emotional scars of dealing with a French oven with gas marks 1 through 10 on the knob instead of temperatures…I kid you not!…have had a chance to fade a little more! lol

French Stamped Shortbread Cookies Here’s the recipe…ironically called Carolina Stamped Shortbread! I made a few changes in the way I made stamped the cookies and have changed the recipe accordingly.

CAROLINA STAMPED SHORTBREAD
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose white flour
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low, then on medium speed,
beat together the butter, powdered sugar, cornstarch, granulated sugar,
salt, and vanilla until light and well-blended, about 3 minutes. 
Beat, then stir in the flour until evenly incorporated. 
Let the dough stand for 5 minutes, or until firmed up slightly.
Add food coloring if desired, working it in with your hands. 
Pinch off enough dough to form a 1 to 1 1/2 inch ball. Flatten ball with your palm.
Press with desired cookie stamp which has been sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray.
Use a glass as a cutter to trim for a cleaner edge. 
Bake at 325º F for about 20 minutes or until light brown on the bottom. (I found that about 16 minutes worked for me.)
Enjoy!


Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my French stamped cookies! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party
Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday (first Monday of the month)
Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Beth at The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Marty at A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday/ Summer Cloche Party
Anita at Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up! on Tuesdays

Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Judy at DIY by Design for Sizzle into Summer

Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays

Michael Lee at Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
See you next time! A la prochaine!

32 comments:

  1. Oh my - what a wonderful cookie press. I have an American version that says Handmade Cookies.

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  2. They look delish! I would love a few with my morning coffee, please.

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  3. What a pretty stamp, Debbie! Good idea to use an American recipe and I used to love shortbread cookies before I had to go gluten free. So good and no one else in the house would eat them so I'd have them all to myself!

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  4. I love the press and the cookies you made look delish. Love that kitty, too. Tell us about that beautiful white coffee pot. It is exquisite.

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  5. Oh how fun and I love them under the cloche. Perfect. You do find the most interesting things. Hugs, Marty

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  6. I love these! I have a terrible time with making sugar cookies and using cookie cutters...but using a stamp, I can handle and the fact that they are French inspired and such great colors makes it even better. Thanks for the recipe!

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  7. Oh Debbie, I love these beautiful shortbread cookies. What a great little cookie stamp. Beautiful presentation with the colorful shortbread and white plate. I would love to read of your adventures in cooking while in France! Have a great weekend.

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

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  8. You just never cease to amaze me! This is such a clever idea -- pretty and delicious, I am sure.

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  9. Deb, what a special treat!! Love the stamps and your choice of pastel colors, xo Kathysue

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  10. What fun! For a lot more recipes to use with your buscuit maison stamp, you might like www.cookiestamp.com The Rycraft company has a ton of stamps and even more recipes. They even have a translator section you might look at to see the difference between the French ingredients and the American ones. I have a pineapple cookie stamp that was a gift and I think the ginger shortbread would be perfect for it. Guess I'm thinking ahead to Christmas!
    Hugs,
    Lois

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  11. I love shortbread cookies and the stamp on them is so cute! Wow, love the colors also. Fun post! Hugs, Linda

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  12. Debbie,
    Magnificient!!! These are adorable...I'm sure Baby Kitty was impressed with the outcome!!! For the time being...cookies are limited here on the Prairie...but I'll be keeping this recipe for my Fall & Winter baking!!! Thanks for sharing! You are such an inspiration for me to get out there and try something NEW!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  13. These are just beautiful, Debbie! What a super idea, and you were resourceful to find that stamp all the way in France! And I love Baby Kitty--what a good helper cat! I've got 3 of those around here as well.

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  14. Love the stamps, your cookies turned out great, how fun! I've bookmarked the recipe to try with my Message Cookie Cutters from W-S, still looking for a recipe that works well with them-thanks:@)

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  15. Those are so darned cute. I just love the way they turned out. And that stamp is lovely...and how perfect that it comes with its own book-xo Diana

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  16. I love this Debbie! If I had a cute stamp I might make cookies more often!:-)

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  17. You did it. Love those cookies and they are perfect under the cloche. Thanks for joining the party. Hugs, Marty

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  18. What a nice post! I love the cookies
    and they look so perfect under the cloche. Thank you for the recipe.
    ~Clara

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  19. Well, first of all....yum! Those are so pretty...and under the cloche...that is really sweet!

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  20. What a fun post! You know everyone wants one of those biscuit stamps now! :)

    ~Liz

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  21. Those look delectable! I would love to have that French stamp! I know exactly what you mean about having to switch up recipes. Seems like our flour is different. Can't wait to follower your blog. I lived in France for a total of 8 years and just did a post on my little problem of hoarding ...dishes. :) Funny. Your blog is gorgeous!

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  22. I've never seen cookies tamped like this. Fabulous Jodi @ www.meaningfulmama.com

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  23. WOW SURPRISE!!! I am very very happy !!! Kiss by Italy!
    La Buca delle Fate
    Lieta

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  24. So nice your biscuits!!
    Elisa from Italy

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  25. Your biscuits look both yummy and beautiful. I will be featuring them tonight at my Sizzle into Summer party that opens at 8pm EST tonight. Please stop by and pick up an I've Been Featured button. Thanks.

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  26. That is awesome! Thank you for joining me at Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

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  27. Their "all purpose" flour as well as their various bread flours are indeed different. We had the same problem when living in Belgium.You can approximate their baking flour by mixing in about a 1 to 3 ratio of cake flour. Their flour is softer, so this works out fairly well. If you can get Southern ap flour, it can work as well. Can't wait to try you version CTD

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  28. How weird... but I just did a google search for french cookie stamp and your image popped up. I was so surprised because it's the same exact stamp I found at Goodwill last week! I was so excited to see you even have a recipe posted for me to follow - as I do not read French! Your cookies are beautiful and I can't wait to duplicate their loveliness this weekend.

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  29. How cute! Your cookies look beautiful! I've been wanting to get some cookie stamps too, they look like they are so fun to use!

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  30. I'm very late to add to this discussion, but I love your recipe. I recently came upon some cookie stamps on ebay while looking for something else. Fell in love with them and bought them. Then I had to find a recipe. Tried two others before I found yours. Yours is definitely the best, both taste wise and for doing stamped cookies. Thank you for posting it.

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Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment! I appreciate my wonderful readers!... Debbie