Red Hot Shortbread Bites

Has everyone been glued to the Olympics these past few days? I think they're the only thing getting me through this terrible Winter. We still have at least 6 weeks of probable snow left and I can't remember ever feeling so stir-crazy for so long.  I feel especially bad for my kids being cooped up.  I mean in winter at least I can still do my favorite activities. (Baking, reading, and bubble baths.)  But bike riding, tree house building, and bug-hunting are kind of out for my kids.  Somebody tell me it's going to end!  I don't even bother checking the weather anymore.  I'm not sure my soul can take any more.

I've been distracting myself from the cold with lots of Valentine's baking this week, and these are one of my favorites. These are yummy little shortbread cookies, but I think they'd be equally delicious if you just added Red Hots to your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Also, prayers for an early Spring are much appreciated.

Red Hot Shortbread Bites

Recipe adapted from Bakingdom

-1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1/4 tsp salt (scant)
-2 1/4 cups flour
-6 Tablespoons crushed Red Hots candies (Just place some in a Ziploc bag and whack them with a rolling pin.  Sift out the powder and throw it away before measuring out 6 Tbsp.)
-1 teaspoon cinnamon extract
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Cream together the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the salt, flour, and Red Hots, and continue to mix until well-combined.  Add cinnamon extract and vanilla extract and mix in until dough is smooth.  (If dough is dry you can add a tsp or two of cream.)

Roll out dough with a rolling pin (I do this between two sheets of parchment paper to keep the Red Hots from pulling out of the dough).

Use small fondant cookie cutters to cut out small-bite sized cookies, or large cookie cutters for regular cookies.

Bake 15 minutes for bite-sized cookies, 25 minutes for large cookies. Cool completely on a wire rack before eating.