Grandma's Shortbread Cookies

May 1, 2020

The current situation with COVID-19 has me reminiscing a lot about the past and particularly about my family’s history. Because of the pandemic, I recently moved back to Forget, Saskatchewan, to the home where my dad grew up. The move and my boredom have led me to do a fair amount of baking since I arrived. Some of which are my grandma's recipes.

My paternal grandma, Mary Breault, played an active role in my childhood. Growing up, she was often over at our house or we were at hers and she always had a constant supply of baking on hand. My grandma could make everything from buns to pies to cookies. As I grew older, I discovered that I had inherited her love of baking even though I often didn't get the opportunity to make baked goods with her directly. After she passed in 2015, my mom and aunts discovered that she had written some of her recipes down (she mostly baked from memory). I asked my mom to send me a picture of one recipe in particular—these shortbread cookies. While I never got to make them with my grandma, they were always a family favourite. She always kept a margarine container full of them for an after dinner treat or a snack with tea or coffee. I wanted to learn to make them to carry on her legacy of baking and, by extension, her memory. I have not yet mastered the recipe, but I think I've come quite close and that my grandma would be proud to see me carry on this family tradition.

When I first returned home, to the house where my grandma spent most of her life, the first recipe I made was her shortbread cookies. It gave me a sense of normalcy and tradition, something we are all lacking right now in our lives but striving to get back. In these weird and turbulent times, I think baking these cookies is a reminder of the strong, kind woman my grandma was, who lived through challenging times, including the Great Depression and the Second World War, and who also raised nine children and had a long, wonderful life. That in itself reminds me that everyone experiences hardships at some point, but eventually, they pass. Things will get better and until then, I will bake.

Ingredients
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
¼ cup softened butter

Steps
1. Cream softened butter in a bowl. Do not forget this step or the mixture will be crumbly.

2. Sift or mix cornstarch, icing sugar, and flour into the soft butter.

3. Shape into small balls.

4. Press with floured fork.

5. Add sprinkles or other toppings if you would like.

6. Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Meagan Breault, who is originally from Forget, Saskatchewan, is currently in her final semester at Carleton University, where she is completing a Master’s degree in History.