Carrot and Apple Shortbread Cookies

I saw this recipie at 101 Cookbooks and decided that it would be an excellent way to enliven an otherwise hundrum Monday night. Don't let the nutrient-rich ingredients fool you folks, these cookies are little bites of pure, buttery decadence.

1/4 cup / 2 ounces / 50g semolina flour

1 1/2 cups / 6 ounces whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

5 ounces (150g) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup / 3 1/2 ounces (100g) light Muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)

2 ounces (50g) carrot, grated

1 ounce (25g) apple, grated

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees, or 180C. Sift the semolina, flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir the carrot, apple, and lemon zest into the flour mixture, and mix until well coated and evenly dispersed. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until a dough forms, then knead a couple times to bring everything together. Split the dough in two, flatten each piece into an inch-thick patty, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.

When you're ready to bake the shortbread, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface 1/2-inch thick/1cm. Or, to reduce mess, keep it in the plastic wrap and roll flat between two layers of plastic. Use a metal cutters to stamp out cookies, then place them on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown just a bit.