The holiday cookie baking begins

I like to keep November focused on the Thanksgiving holiday, yet I don't at all mind preparing for Christmas, and that includes baking a different type of cookie each week leading up to the holiday season. This week, I decided to make my favorite (and super easy) shortbread recipe but jazz it up with some of the pumpkin pie spice that Adagio Teas recently shared with me.

You could use whatever pumpkin pie spice blend you happen to have, but this one contains cassia cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger root, and mace, which I find has a little more zip than regular pumpkin pie spice.

I decided to also cut out a few teapots and turkeys (though it's hard to tell they're turkeys!) for the next time my little neighbors come over for tea, and the Christmas tree shortbread is now in the freezer, a nice head start on my holiday baking!

Spiced Brown Sugar Shortbread

1 cup softened butter (no substitutions)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Adagio's Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream butter and brown sugar using a hand mixer. Gradually stir in flour and spices. When blended, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead till smooth, about 3 minutes. I used a rolling pin that flattens the dough into a perfect 3/8-inch thickness (using a piece of wax paper on top to prevent sticking) and cut out cookies with various cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet, prick with a fork (only because it's pretty), and bake for 25 minutes, just until bottoms are beginning to brown. Yields about 24 (3-inch) cookies.