Cranberry Rum Shortbread Cookies

It's December! Are you ready?
Get in the mood with this:

And then, by making these!
Calling these gems Cranberry Rum Shortbreads might a little off base. I'd call them RUM Cranberry Shortbreads. They pack quite a kick. You know what they say about listing the main ingredient first. Well, it's what you taste first.  :) 

Now it might be because I used dark rum, but I doubt it. Every year it seems I post a cranberry shortbread of some kind. I love having them in the freezer ready to slice and bake. But I must say, these are not your usual shortbreads. Not very sweet, although you could sprinkle them with some confectioners sugar, but oh the booze. Who needs sweetness when you've got dark rum as a flavor?? 
I plan to take them to a few parties this season. They look so innocent in the photo, don't they? Don't be taken in. Leave them out for your favorite Santa!


Cranberry Rum Shortbread Cookies
From Everybody Likes Sandwiches, adapted from a 1980s recipe in the Vancouver Sun newspaper

Ingredients:
1 c dried cranberries
1/2 c rum
1 c butter, softened
1 T orange zest
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 c icing (powdered) sugar
2 c all purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking powder

Method:
In a small saucepan, bring cranberries and rum to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes until the rum is absorbed into the cranberries. Set aside to cool.
Cream butter, zest, vanilla and sugar together. In another bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder – add gradually to the creamed mixture. Add the dried cranberries, stirring until just combined. Shape dough into 2 rolls, about 1 1/2? each in diameter. Wrap tightly in parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F. Slice each log into cookies about 1/4? thick and place on a prepared cookie sheet (I always line mine with silpat or ungreased parchment). Cookies don’t spread very much, so you can bake more at once if you like. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack. 

Sprinkle with icing (powdered) sugar if desired.