Goat Butter Shortbread

Preparation Put the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and refrigerate until the butter is firm, approximately 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F and spread the wheat germ onto a half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pan. Toast until slightly aromatic, approximately 3 minutes. Cool to room temperature. In a bowl, whisk together the flours, salts, and toasted wheat germ. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar and mix on low speed until the dough starts to resemble a coarse meal, 6 to 8 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough just starts to clump around the paddle or to the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand. Place the dough on a surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll the dough back and forth into a cylinder. Using your fingers, pat the dough into a rectangle. Put a sheet of parchment paper the same dimensions as a half sheet pan on the work surface and dust lightly with flour. Put the dough on top. Using a rolling pin, begin rolling out the dough. If any cracks form in the dough, stop to push them together. To keep the dough from sticking to the parchment paper, dust the top lightly with flour, cover with another piece of parchment paper, and, sandwiching the dough between both sheets of parchment paper, flip the dough and paper over. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper and continue to roll. Roll the dough into a 10 by 12- or 14-inch rectangle approximately ¼ inch thick. If the surface is uneven, roll a pastry roller across the surface to even it out. Ease the dough and parchment paper onto a half sheet pan. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, at least 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a couple of half sheet pans with parchment paper. Let the dough sit at room temperature for up to 10 minutes. Invert the dough onto a work surface and peel off the top sheet of parchment paper. Roll a dough docker over the dough or pierce it numerous times with a fork. Using a 1 ¾ by 2 ½-inch (or comparable) cookie cutter, cut out the shortbread. Reroll the dough trimmings, chill, and cut out more cookies. If you don’t have a comparable cookie cutter, you can cut out the rectangles with a knife. Evenly space 12 to 16 shortbreads on the prepared pan. Place the pan in the oven, lower the temperature to 325°F, and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the cookies feel firm to the touch and are slightly brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes more. Let the cookies cool entirely on the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Reprinted with permission from Cookie Love: More Than 60 Recipes and Techniques for Turning the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary, by Mindy Segal with Kate Leahy, copyright © 2015. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2015 by Dan Goldberg. Buy the full book at Amazon.

Preparation Put the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and refrigerate until the butter is firm, approximately 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F and spread the wheat germ onto a half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pan. Toast until slightly aromatic, approximately 3 minutes. Cool to room temperature. In a bowl, whisk together the flours, salts, and toasted wheat germ. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar and mix on low speed until the dough starts to resemble a coarse meal, 6 to 8 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough just starts to clump around the paddle or to the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand. Place the dough on a surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll the dough back and forth into a cylinder. Using your fingers, pat the dough into a rectangle. Put a sheet of parchment paper the same dimensions as a half sheet pan on the work surface and dust lightly with flour. Put the dough on top. Using a rolling pin, begin rolling out the dough. If any cracks form in the dough, stop to push them together. To keep the dough from sticking to the parchment paper, dust the top lightly with flour, cover with another piece of parchment paper, and, sandwiching the dough between both sheets of parchment paper, flip the dough and paper over. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper and continue to roll. Roll the dough into a 10 by 12- or 14-inch rectangle approximately ¼ inch thick. If the surface is uneven, roll a pastry roller across the surface to even it out. Ease the dough and parchment paper onto a half sheet pan. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, at least 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a couple of half sheet pans with parchment paper. Let the dough sit at room temperature for up to 10 minutes. Invert the dough onto a work surface and peel off the top sheet of parchment paper. Roll a dough docker over the dough or pierce it numerous times with a fork. Using a 1 ¾ by 2 ½-inch (or comparable) cookie cutter, cut out the shortbread. Reroll the dough trimmings, chill, and cut out more cookies. If you don’t have a comparable cookie cutter, you can cut out the rectangles with a knife. Evenly space 12 to 16 shortbreads on the prepared pan. Place the pan in the oven, lower the temperature to 325°F, and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the cookies feel firm to the touch and are slightly brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes more. Let the cookies cool entirely on the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Reprinted with permission from Cookie Love: More Than 60 Recipes and Techniques for Turning the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary, by Mindy Segal with Kate Leahy, copyright © 2015. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2015 by Dan Goldberg. Buy the full book at Amazon.