Hungarian Shortbread Recipe - Omlos Teasutemeny



This recipe for Hungarian shortbread or omlos teasutemeny (oom-loosh TAY-ahsh-soo-teh-men-ee), where omlos means short pastry and teasutemeny means biscuit in the cookie sense, has a thin layer of jam between two layers of buttery dough. It is similar to this Czech shortbread recipe. For purists, however, Scottish shortbread is usually made with only three ingredients -- butter, flour and sugar -- and, in some cases, cornstarch.

Freeze leftover egg whites and save for leftover egg white recipes.

 

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Dough must freeze for about: 45 minutes

Yield: 45 Hungarian Shortbread Cookies

 Ingredients:

•1 pound (4 sticks) softened unsalted butter
•2 cups sugar
•4 large egg yolks
•4 cups all-purpose flour
•2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•2 cups jam of choice (sour cherry, strawberry, apricot, plum, etc.) (or several to equal 2 cups)
•Confectioners' sugar
 

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add yolks and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the flour mixture with the butter-sugar-egg mixture only until ingredients are incorporated. Don't overmix.

 2. Divide dough in half, wrap each half in plastic and freeze for 30 to 45 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one package of dough from the freezer and coarsely grate the dough in a food processor, or by hand with a box grater, into the bottom of 15x10-inch jellyroll pan. Push the dough gently so it gets into the corners and covers any bare spots, but don't overwork the dough.

 3.Spread with jam of choice (or use several different kinds to equal 2 cups and, without mixing them, spread in bands across the dough) and then grate remaining piece of dough on top, distributing it evenly, pushing and pressing lightly so jam is covered. Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

 4. Remove from oven and immediately dust heavily with confectioners' sugar. By dusting while hot, the sugar melts and creates a kind of glaze. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares or rectangles. Transfer to paper cups and a pretty serving tray or store tightly covered.

 Recipe Source: http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/hungariandesserts/r/shortbread.htm