We are paying $8.99 Cdn (~$7.50 USD) / lb in Canada these days, for unsalted sticks. House brands that aren’t divided into sticks cost a little less.
It’s sometimes on sale for $5/lb during the holidays. I let my friends know when butter is on sale!
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i use about 3 pounds. so this year i decided to splurge on high fat, cultured butter. not cheap — roughly $10/pound — but i can really taste the difference, especially in the shortbread (three varieties!).
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These are savoury. I’m making them.
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More hints for the cream wafers after spending an entire day on the triple batch I mixed yesterday and chilled overnight. Allow 1.5 hours per batch to roll/cut/bake if you’re working solo. Put the dough back in the fridge when it gets too soft. DO use parchment paper on the cookie sheets, even though instructions say “ungreased” sheets. The high rate of broken cookies was because the sugar coating was “gluing” some cookies to the sheet. And DO roll/cut your cookies thicker than 1/8th inch. They were just too darn fragile when rolled thinner. I needed 5 recipes of the frosting for 3 recipes of the dough, even with a lot of broken cookies from my first 4 trays. Frosting and sandwiching the cookies was very easy/fast.
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I am very jealous of those butter prices!! 1.99!!! 
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Yes prices are insane in ontario. The cheapest is in Costco 4.99 a lb. That was last week but who knows what its this week. Metro always had specials and i would stock up but none for a long time.
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The annual December madness has started. I am making my usuals:
Peppermint Bark
Pretzel Toffee Bark
7 Layer cookies ( aka Hello Dollies)
Spiced Pecans
Austrian Raspberry Shortbread https://smittenkitchen.com/2007/12/austrian-raspberry-shortbread/
Whipped shortbread
Panellets https://mayihavethatrecipe.com/panellets-pine-nut-cookies-a-halloween-treat-from-spain/
Salted caramels
Thinking of adding an additional gluten free item… maybe this? https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/nov/28/brunsli-chocolate-cookies-recipe-by-yotam-ottolenghi
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Yep: that’s where I usually shop too
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I’ll post if I see specials at Metro, Sobeys, FarmBoy or Loblaws.
The cheapest butter- NoName salted butter- at Superstore was $5.99 Cdn yesterday, not in sticks. The unsalted sticks at Superstore we’re $9.99 Cdn, whereas unsalted Lactantia sticks at my upscale indie grocery store were $8.99 Cdn.
I think Metro will have butter on sale again this month, like they did before Xmas the past 2 years.
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If you’re iffy on the five spice in the Basler Brunsli, they’re traditionally flavored with cinnamon. I’ve got a good recipe for them somewhere that I got from someone on Chowhound years ago.
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New recipe for me, a vanilla chai spice bundt cake from Nordic Ware. I wanted to give it a test run before my annual holiday party later this month, so I made it for Mom and her group of childhood friends, who still see one another once a month.
I let the batter sit in the cake for a little while before I put it in the oven, as this helps the very thick batter descend into all the many nooks and crannies in this particular pan, which I was also baking with for the first time. I wonder if this allowed the batter to dry out too much, as the finished cake was surprisingly a touch dry… if I were to make it again, I would cut down the baking time a bit.
The cake was also a bit too fragile, splitting in a few spots. This disqualifies it as a potential party cake, because surviving NYC transport isn’t for delicate desserts!
Served without a syrup or glaze, just a dusting of powdered sugar.
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Adorable award here. Too cute. The O mouth one is amaze. “Don’t let me melt!”
Thanks, that would be great!
Here you go. I got this from CathleenH on Chowhound in 2010; she said it’s adapted from Great Cookies by Carol Walters . They’re richer than the Ottolenghi recipe on account of containing actual chocolate, not just cocoa (and the recipe makes a lot more). They’re delicious! I rarely have kirsch around, but I’ve used dark rum or bandy. I’m sure you could skip the booze and just add some vanilla.
Basler Brünsli
8 oz. good bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 tbsp. dutch process cocoa
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 large egg whites
3/4 C. superfine sugar
3 Tbsp. kirsch
3/4 lb. almond flour (about 3 C.)
1/4 c. granulated sugar (for rolling)
sparkling sugar for decorating
Combine the chocolate, cocoa and spices in the food processor. Grind very fine, about 60 seconds. Set aside. Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the superfine sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time and beat to a stiff meringue. Fold in the kirsch, then the chocolate mixture and almond flour. Pat the dough into two rectangles. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough out in granulated sugar until just under 1/2 inch thick. Cut with small cookie cutters. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar to decorate. Place on the baking sheet and allow the cookies to air dry for 1 hour before baking. Bake at 250 9-12 minutes until they just set (or until you can just smell them). Rotate the baking sheets halfway through. Do not overbake. Cookies will firm as they cool. Allow cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Cookies will keep up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.
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Thank you! How many does it make?
It’s been a few years, and obviously depends on the size you cut them, but as I recall maybe 30 to 36 2” round cookies.
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Buy brownie minis if you don’t want to make your own in mini-muffin pans. Use white or cream cheese frostin, or white candy melts. The former tastes better but tge latter dries hard, which is easier for transporting. Noses are Reese’s Puffs cereal.
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Did you like the recipe enough to make it again?
I’m not sure. I rarely overbake cakes and that’s making it difficult for me to tell if it (the dryness) was my error or not.
Of course, the size of the cutter that you use would matter. Now I just need to find a kirsch substitute., does anyone have any suggestions? Can’t find any at the LCBO!
