Shortbread - simply flour, sugar and butter. Possibly the world's most streamlined cookie. That is, until culinarily imaginative types are unleashed with the goal of designing a brand new shortbread recipe.

Here was the contest criteria: This perfect shortbread couldn't be too hard to make, but certainly it needs pizzazz, naturally has to have good looks, be creative and...YES, have a buttery taste. Not just because butter is the raison d'etre of shortbread, but also because the sponsors of the contest, open to student chefs was Gay Lea, a 400-strong farmers' cooperative who makes fine butter, both salted and unsalted.

We assembled, the four chefs in training, an audience of fellow students, friends and family,  the two other judges Dana McCauley, trend meister and cookbook author and Stephanie Pick, owner of The Queen of Tarts where she sells the acme of brown butter shortbread with either coarse salt or sugar gracing the top. (Go for the salt.) The bake-off location was the chic new Market Kitchen in the second floor of the St. Lawrence Market, once part of Toronto's original city hall, now a cooking school and party venue. Lots of afternoon light streaming through the original 20 foot windows, exposed brick and views of the historic and modern city outside.

The students had already made a batch of their shortbread for display and tasting, and were working through their recipes so the judges could see them in action and ask questions. There were some interesting (as in unusual) flavours going into the dough the students in whites were mixing up. Bacon and maple syrup, for example,or shortbread cookies sandwiched together with lemon curd from Alejandra Gonzales of Humber College, or lemon and lavender, cut into moons and stars by a second Humber College student Stephanie Lackie, even peanut butter and jam. This was certainly going to be a taste experience. While the judges nibbled, then withdrew to confer in private, the audience was munching to pass judgment for the Peoples' Choice.

As did Caesar, we judges came, we tasted and we chose the winner. Robert Maxwell from Liaison College and his Peanut Butter  and Jelly Shortbread. The People chose  Andrea Schmidt's Maple Glazed Bacon and Chive Shortbread. There's no denying bacon's appeal.

Robert Maxwell's shortbread met all the criteria for a buttery creative shortbread that's straightforward to make. While an egg yolk is not usual in shortbread, Maxwell used one in the dough in order to keep the peanut butter and jelly layer from bleeding into the dough. His shortbread has an interesting twist - he shapes  the dough into 2 equal logs and freezes them until time to bake. Then, he shreds half of the dough, pats it into the pan for the base, spreads peanut butter and a jam mixture over that, and shreds the remaining dough over the filling. The bars have an enticing pebbly surface that cuts neatly. Recipe and photos of Robert Maxwell and finished bars arranged at the top of the copy are courtesy of Gay Lea Foods.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread Bars

Shortbread Base and Topping:

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar

1 egg yolk (large egg)

1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

Filling:

1/2 cup (125 mL) smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup (125 mL) icing sugar

2 tbsp (30 mL) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup jam (blueberry, strawberry or raspberry ) or grape jelly

. Line a 13 -x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan with parchment paper; set aside.

. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and egg yolk with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir half at a time into the butter mixture to make a smooth dough.

. Divide the dough in half; shape each half into a thick log. Wrap and freeze dough until firm, about 1 to 4 hours.

The dough has to be frozen and firm enough to shred on the large hole-side of a box grater, and to stay frozen/firm enough to spread in the parchment paper-lined pan seen behind the grater and cutting board.

. Remove half of the dough from the freezer. Shred the dough on the coarse side of a square grater. Arrange the dough in an even layer in the prepared pan. Lightly pat down the dough.

. Bake in the centre of a preheated 350°F (180°C) oven until light golden around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes.

. Filling:  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, blend together the peanut butter, icing sugar and butter. Spread evenly over the shortbread base.

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. Drop spoonfuls of the jam over the peanut butter and without disturbing the peanut butter layer, spread in an even layer. An offset spatula makes getting the jam into the corners much easier.

. Remove the remaining dough from the freezer. Shred the dough and spread evenly over the jam. Bake until the top is lightly golden brown and set, 20 to 25 minutes.

. Transfer to rack to cool completely. Cut into bars. Or cut into squares and cut again diagonally into triangles or bars.

Depending on the occasion you can cut squares, triangles or bars. For a neat finish for all pieces, take a sharp long knife and cutting down evenly along the ends and sides of the making of bars, trim off the edges. Enjoy the scraps with a glass of milk before packing the shortbread into an airtight cookie tin.

. Makes 24 pieces.

Early in the 1990s, the Canadian Living Test Kitchen received a letter from reader Emilie Dore.

Emilie wrote that she had been invited to a party, a Hallowe'en party if my memory serves me right, and asked to bring finger food.

Her inventive mind took the request literally, and using an icing sugar-based vanilla cookie dough, shaped the dough into long ovals, pressed a whole almond into one end for a fingernail, and near the other end, used the back of a knife to mark knuckle creases. Into the oven, and out came the cookies. And here's where finger-shaped cookies turned into witches' fingers.

You probably all know that nuts stuck into a cookie are like  loose teeth, and as soon as the cookies are jiggled, the nuts falls out. How well this looseness worked for the ensuing Witches' Fingers! Emilie Dore removed the almonds, piped a good blob of red decorator gel into the cavity and replaced the almonds. The gel held the almonds secure, but more important, oozed up around the almond fingernails, creating truly gruesome looking fingers. Witches' Fingers. 

Canadian Living published the recipe, and in the same year, the magazine moved from Yonge and Eglinton to Yonge and Sheppard in Toronto, with two different test kitchen facilities in the intervening months as we waited for appliances, flooring and cupboards in our lovely new kitchen. In the packing up and unpacking, Emilie Dore's letter was lost, as was credit for Witches' Fingers. 

In the meantime, her recipe became the Hallowe'en recipe for countless Canadian Living readers, and many others, including bake shops and catering facilities that baked as many fingers as they could, and saw an eager public buy them all up in a trice.

I can't tell you how delighted I was to be contacted by Emilie Dore a couple of years back. She emailed me introducing herself, and asking what we could do to let readers, and especially her family know that it was she who devised the fabled Witches' Fingers. The Canadian Living website did just that, and when in 2008 we published The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book, I took the opportunity to give credit to Emilie Dore for introducing us to Witches' Fingers. 

In late summer 2009, I was invited to appear on the cooking stage. Book 'n' Cook at Toronto's Word on the Street, as it turns out, yesterday September 27. With the line-up organized by Emily Richards and MCd by the Cookbook Store's Alison Fryer, the stage attracted a large standing-room only crowd of food and word enthusiasts. In my thinking about what to demonstrate, my mind went to Witches' Fingers. With October on the horizon, ideas for parties leading up to Hallowe'en are always needed, and what better way to entertain party goers - you may think only kids, but teens and adults love these fingers too, than to prepare a batch of dough and invite participants to shape their own fingers, see them baked, do the squishy-gel-under-the-nail-step, and then get to take a few home. 

And yes, even though many in the Word on the Street audience were familiar with Witches' Fingers, some were horrified to see  them for the first time, and everyone was able to learn about the reader who shared her Witches' Fingers with Canadian Living Magazine readers.

Even when the flour has been incorporated, the dough is still too soft to shape. The refrigerator is your friend.

Witches' Fingers

1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened

1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar

1 large egg at room temperature

1 tsp (5 mL) each vanilla and almond extract

2-3/4 cups (675 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt

3/4 cup (175 mL) whole blanched almonds, about 65

1 tube (19 g) red decorator gel

. Line 2 rimless shiny baking sheets with parchment paper or grease; set aside. (Parchment is recommended.)

. In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar until blended. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract, beating until the batter is smooth.

. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir half into the butter mixture, then stir in the remainder to make a soft smooth dough.  

. Flatten into a disc; wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

. Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, and keeping the remainder refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoonfuls (generous 5 mL) into elongated ovals, about 2-1/2 inches (6.25 cm) long. Press an almond firmly into 1 end of dough for a nail. Press the dough to thicken slightly in the middle to create a wider knuckle. Using the back of a paring knife, press across in 3 places to form knuckle wrinkles. Place on prepared baking sheets leaving about 2 inches (5 cm) between fingers. 

. Refrigerate fingers on baking sheets until firm about 45 minutes.

. Bake 1 sheet at at time in the centre of a 325°F (160°C) oven until pale golden underneath and the almond has darkened slightly, about 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on pan on rack for about 5 minutes.

In spite of the chilling, the cookies spread. Be sure to leave space between the raw fingers.

. Lift up almonds, 1 at a time. Squeeze red decorator gel into the cavity (aka nail bed) and press almond back in place so gel oozes out from underneath and frames the fingernail. Transfer to racks to cool. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

. Makes about 60 cookies. 

Important Tip: Red decorator gel is available in supermarkets with the decorator collection of sprinkles, icings and coloured sugars in the baking section. Get your tube as soon as possible as red seems to be scarce.  If red is not available, talk to your store manager as soon as possible. Otherwise, you are going to have to persuade your children that witches' blood is green, or heaven help us, blue.

Chocolate Witches' Fingers

. Make as directed for Witches' Fingers with the following easy changes.

. Replace 1/4 cup (50 mL) of the all-purpose flour with cocoa powder.

. Instead of whisking the dry ingredients, you need to sift the cocoa with the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift twice or until the dark cocoa and white dry ingredients are perfectly blended.  

. To bring out the chocolate flavour, you can replace the 1 tsp (5 mL) almond extract with vanilla bringing the vanilla up to 2 tsp (10 mL).

When making a batch of cookies, I find it easier if I measure out all the blobs of dough (bottom), then shape them into rounds before forming the elongated oval. The final step, top, is pressing in the almonds and marking the knuckle.

Volunteers behind Phil Goodwin are planting shrubs on a wetland by the Don River.

Phil Goodwin is a publisher, and as a naturalist, a passionate supporter of the Don River. Flowing south through Toronto into Lake Ontario, the Don, like many rivers in Canadian cities has been in pretty rough shape over the last many decades. Deforestation, development, industry, pollution, carelessness and simple neglect have turned the river from a place to swim and catch salmon to a run of water in great need of recussitation.

Goodwin, tall and with an engaging smile is a key figure with the East Don Parkland Partners, the organization working to bring back the Don. While the health of the whole Don is Goodwin's passion, he and his supporters have taken on the replanting along a stretch of the river south of Cummer Avenue in North York. And that's where I headed on Saturday with my sister Janey Davis to help Goodwin's neighbours, friends, locals, colleagues, interested students and a whole Scout troop to plant native shrubs on a newly recreated meadow and wetland.  In early June, Goodwin will again assemble a group of volunteers to plant wild flowers and herbaceous plants in the same area.The Partners work with staff from the parks department who position the shrubs and trees, and bring the shovels, gloves for all size hands from kids to big and burly, mulch to keep the ground around the newly planted species moist, and planting know-how. There may be a better way to spend a spring Saturday, but I've yet to find it.

Saturday was cool and slightly overcast - perfect for planting. The one thing I thought I could provide besides the energy to plant, was homemade cookies to keep the planters energized. I chose Oatmeal Cookies found on page 35 of The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book (Transcontinental Books, $34.95). Because the group was big, my sister and I made two batches, one with white chocolate and dried cranberries, the second with pecans and maple chunks I had bought a few weeks ago at a store called Canadian Maple Delights in Old Montreal. 

Funny thing, just as the last cedar was in the ground, the last cookie went into tummy of one of the young planters. Couldn't be in better places.

Tree Planting Oatmeal Cookies

These are absolutely delicious oatmeal cookies, and you don't have to plant trees to earn one. I like to add cranberries and white chocolate, but you can accent the dough with any number of interesting add-ins. Raisins or currants are traditional as are chopped walnut halves. Regular chocolate chips of course. In all, your additions should measure about 1-1/2 cups (375 mL).  Feel free to add a little cinnamon or nutmeg if you like too. Or, some grated orange rind. 

2/3 cup (150 mL) butter, softened

1 cup (250 mL) packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla

1-1/2 cups large-flake rolled oats

1 cup (50 mL) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp (2 mL) each baking powder and baking soda

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

3/4 cup (175 mL) chopped white chocolate

3/4 cup (175 mL) dried cranberries, dried cherries or raisins

. Line 2 large rimless baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats, or grease; set aside.

. In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy; beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into the butter mixture in 2 additions until blended. Stir in the chocolate and cranberries.

. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Scoop by tablespoons (15 mL) into mounds, set 2-inches (5 cm) apart on prepared baking sheets. Roll each mound into a ball; with a fork, press down to about 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) thickness.

Rolling the dough into balls rather than just scooping the dough on the baking sheet helps make uniformly round cookies. Press evenly with a fork.

. Bake in bottom and top thirds of 350°F (180°C) oven until cookies are golden brown underneath and edges are crisp, about 12 to 15 minutes. Switch and rotate the baking sheets halfway through the baking to ensure even cooking.

. Let cookies rest on the baking sheets to firm up, about 3 minutes, before transferring to racks to cool. (Make-ahead: Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage - up to 1 month if nobody  in the house knows about them.)

Cooling cookies on a rack helps keep them crisp.

. Makes about 24 cookies. 

Variation: Pecan Maple Oatmeal Cookies. Replace the cranberries and white chocolate with 1-1/4 cups (300 mL) chopped pecan halves and 1/4 cup (50 mL) maple chunks. 

The Oatmeal Cookies look more subtle with the chopped pecans and maple chunks, rice-sized pieces of hard maple sugar. A nice burst of natural maple flavour.

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