4 hours ago, cakewalk said:I think perhaps you're being a bit too literal. The "best of" threads are wonderful for sure, but I find that it's the different opinions that make them so great, not a consensus of any sort. Everyone shares his own "best of," and that's why they're such great learning threads. Good luck in your search.
It is the opinions that made them so great, and they are great learning threads. And they did come up with a general consensus (or at least, two or three, at times) which I hope to achieve here as well. Though everyone has different tastes, there are reasons why certain brands and products are more popular. More people think they are the best. Really, I would like to find a recipe or two that are most popular amongst the eGullet community.
I am going away for the weekend and when I come back, I will try the "grandmother" recipes given here and will post results...
I wanted to try @Okanagancook's recipe as I loved this:
21 hours ago, Okanagancook said:I couldn't find my Mom's recipe box but my DH found it just now tucked at the back of a low down shelf in the dining room!
This recipe has to be pretty legitimate because only the best recipes are found in places like that...! I liked the method too.
And I was going to compare it to @chromedome's recipe, using volume measurements like his grandmother. Also, do you have a recommended temperature to bake?
That was the plan until @JohnT post. It was silly how excited I was by your post!
I will definitely be trying your recipe as well! Thank you so much for posting!
11 hours ago, JohnT said:Your post has had me thinking and I now have gone back to have a look at some of my shortbread recipes from my studies and others that I have gathered over the years.
I'd be really interested to see your notes!
11 hours ago, JohnT said:Now, many years later and trying a number of different recipes over the years, I have my own recipe which works very well for me and I classify as "okay +" - in other words, not what I remember as being the best, but still reasonably good for what I use it for - Millionaires Shortbread
Do you mind sharing this one as well? And do you think you'd be able to try your grandmother's recipe and let us know what you personally think of it? If you think it's better than your current one?
Since JohnT is the first to present a recipe that seems to be "the best" (though much more humbly), I really hope others will try JohnT's recipe as well to see if they think it's better than theirs or if it even manages to be "the one" that stops the search. Perhaps @cakewalk would sub in rice flour for the cornstarch.
I wondered if anyone would actually want to bake different batches of cookies but after reading through various threads here, that's what people here seem to do! This is what impressed me and lead me to start this topic. But I do understand if this doesn't actually happen. I will try the recipes, but to be honest, it's not really my opinion that I care about, it's everyone else's - I'd like to see the majority opinion. That is just my hope, however.