Recipe courtesy of the Santa Fe School of Cooking

Photo by Douglas Merriam

In “The Seeds of the Trees,” Lynn Cline explores how the venerated Santa Fe School of Cooking utilizes the piñon in recipes ranging from nut butter to moles to the one of their most popular recipes, piñon shortbread.

Print Recipe

Piñon Shortbread

Servings: 1 9x9 inch pan

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon cardamom
  • 2 sticks 8 ounces unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup toasted New Mexico piñons

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • Mix flour, sugar, salt, and cardamom in a food processor. Pulse until mixed. Add butter and pulse until a crumbly dough begins to form. Add toasted piñons and pulse to incorporate.
  • Press the crumbly dough into an ungreased 9x9-inch pan. Poke all over with a fork.
  • Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until lightly browned.
  • Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Invert onto a cutting board. While still warm, remove pan and cut into desired shapes.

Notes

Pro tips:
You can change the flavors all you want with this recipe. Just keep the butter-to-flour ratio the same (1 cup flour to 1 stick butter). You can reduce the sugar by 25 percent with no harm done. Try fresh rosemary, thyme, orange zest, or whatever you like.
When inverting the shortbread, place the cutting board on top of the pan, grasp firmly, and simply flip with conviction!
Cutting the shortbread while warm is crucial. If it is cut after it has cooled, the shortbread will crack and you will not get nice, even pieces.
Using kosher salt instead of regular salt creates nice pockets of saltiness, creating a more interesting flavor profile.