Sicilian Sunset Shortbread Cookies
fennel-spiced shortbread with orange and campari
We’re a little late to the game, but Martin and I just finished the second season of White Lotus. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s set at a fancy resort in Sicily and is filled with fashionable, wealthy people drinking endless Aperol spritzes at a beach club that overlooks the ocean. While we were watching, I was also reading a book called Murder in an Italian Village, set in the idyllic Italian coastal town of Positano. All of my watching and reading has been giving me a little case of wanderlust and I’ve found myself flipping through my idea book from my time in Sicily last year as I begin looking at 2024 recipes. Basically, I don’t care that it is the middle of December in New York, I’m dreaming of the warm Italian sun and all of the flavors that go with it.
I knew I wanted to create a holiday-esque recipe rooted in Sicilian flavors this month for you. I explored the idea of a cocktail and a cake until I finally settled on this sweet shortbread cookie. Brimming with Sicilian flavors—fennel! citrus! olive oil! Campari!—it’s bright and sunny, while still great for filling holiday cookie boxes.
fennel-spiced shortbread cookies with campari glaze
I’ve never been the biggest shortbread fan, they can get dry and crumbly quickly, but a few years ago I stumbled upon a Thalia Ho shortbread recipe baked in a square baking dish and I fell in love. Baking them that way results in a thick, chewy shortbread rather than a crispier cookie. I lightly adapted Thalia’s recipe to include smashed fennel seeds, fragrant dried ginger, and lots of blood orange zest.
I tested this recipe a handful of ways—first in an 8x8” glass baking dish (what you see in the pictures). I also tested a slightly thinner cookie baked in a quarter sheet pan. Martin and I both preferred the thin cookies just a little bit more, but if you like a shortbread the size of a small brownie, you can easily bake this in that 8x8” baking dish to achieve that (you’ll just need to tack on a few extra minutes of baking time).
The glaze is super simple—blood orange juice, Campari, and powdered sugar combine for a vibrant pink hue. Drizzle liberally over the cookies and let it set just a bit before serving.
sicilian sunset shortbread cookies (with fennel, blood orange, and campari)
makes one quarter sheet pan, about 20 cookies
Ingredients:
226 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
75 g (just over 1/3 cup) granulated sugar
50 g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
the zest of one medium blood orange
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly chopped and crushed
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
275 g (2 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
3 tbsp olive oil
for the glaze:
2/3 cup (150 g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp Campari
2 tsp blood orange juice
Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper leaving about 1/2” of overhang on two sides. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, both sugars, orange zest, ginger, fennel seed, and nutmeg for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy and very well-combined.
Add the salt and flour, and mix again on low until the flour is incorporated and there are no more dry spots. Stream in the olive oil and continue mixing until just combined.
Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press and smooth it into an even layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the cookie is starting to brown and is puffy. Be careful not to over bake as they will continue to set up after you remove them from the oven. Let the cookies cool completely in the pan.
Use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the cookies out of the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut them into small squares.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, Campari, and orange juice until very smooth. Liberally drizzle the glaze over the cookies and then let the glaze set for about 5 minutes before serving.
plus a few other holiday cookies recipes to get you in the spirit:
Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Clementine Biscotti
Chamomile and Apricot Linzer Cookies