Demerara Shortbread Cookies

These Demerara Sugar Shortbread Cookies have a wonderful faint salted caramel flavor that will call you back to the cookie jar all day long.

Demerara sugar you ask? It is a coarse, large crystal raw sugar that is native to Guyana. Unlike brown sugar, it is not flavored with molasses, but is naturally golden brown.

The edges of these cookies are rolled in the sugar before baking, and then the sugar melts and hardens to create a lovely rich tasting coating.


You can find the sugar in the natural sugar section of your supermarket, gourmet shops, or online. If you can't find it, you can try substituting turbinado sugar (the stuff that's in those brown "sugar in the raw" packets in the coffee shop).

The balance of flavors from the Demerara sugar coating on the edges of the little cookies and the salt in the cookies definitely reminds me of salted caramel. It's subtle, and really tasty.

For another recipe using Demerara sugar, check out this Demerara sugar honey challah!.

This month, the #CreativeCookieExchange bakers have made cookies perfect for a picnic. After the recipe, check out the links to the rest of the amazing cookie recipes.

Demerara Shortbread Cookies

Recipe adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, 2004

Ingredients

8 ounces unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/3 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water

1/4 cup (approximately) Demerara sugar

Instructions

1. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter, salt, granulated sugar, and vanilla until thoroughly mixed and pale.
2. Slowly beat in the flour until just combined. 
3. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a 1 1/2 inch wide log. 
4. Brush each log with the egg white, sprinkle with the Demerara sugar, and wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper. Refrigerated for at least an hour. 
5. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F with a rack in the middle. 
6. Line two baking sheets with parchment, and slice each log into 3/8 inch slices. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 22 minutes. 
7. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. 

The theme this month is Pack for a Picnic Cookies--any kind of cookie that sounds great for a picnic! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links. You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Blondies from A Baker's House
• Browned Butter Lemon Cookies with Macadamia Nuts from The Spiced Life
• Cashew Butter Bites from Magnolia Days
• Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Noshing With The Nolands
• Chocolate Chip Cookies from SimplyVeggies
• Demerara Shortbread Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Gingham Picnic Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Gluten-Free Trail Mix Cookies from Rhubarb and Honey
• Key Lime Coolers from 2 Cookin’ Mamas
• Naan Khatai - Indian Shortbread Cookies from Spiceroots
• Potato Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies from Our Good Life
• Soft Brown Sugar Cookies from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks