Whipped Shortbread - 2 ways

I LOVE shortbread.
 A cup of tea, a couple cookies and Christmas music,
thats just ahhhhhhhh for me.

In the above photo, you can see the difference in texture between a recipe with cornstarch and without. The cornstarch recipe is more smooth, silky almost and easy to roll in to balls and press flat as I did. The ones without cornstarch are more like a drop cookies, drop it from the spoon & bake.

I've always made my shortbread with cornstarch and it just melts in your mouth, it's may fav! Those hard Scottish shortbread cookies are just not for me., too dry and they just don't appeal to me in anyway.

On my second batch I decided to try and pipe the non-cornstarch dough to see if it would have a smooth look, it was tougher to do and you can still see a textural difference.
Both melt in your mouth but after much testing - 
(someone had to do it!)
I think I still  like my cornstarch recipe best, MMmmm.

My Mom had a good friend names Shiela, we called her Auntie Sheila, back before kids called adults by their first names (don't get me started!).
My Auntie Sheila would have me over one weekend in November
 to do Christmas baking. We would make fruit cake (yuk) 
which she would lovingly pour booze over every week or so, 
she shared her secret method and we would make shortbread. 
Auntie Sheila would use the cornstarch recipe and then shape
 the dough into a rectangular log, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate 
to slice and bake late. She always added candied cherries to the top, half a green, half a red to each. Although I dont use half red, half green, to this day I can't make shortbread without adding a cherry on the top

Would anyone else notice the difference if you didn't tell them?
I'm not sure.
I do like working with the cornstarch recipe best though.
Try them out, what do you think?

PRINTABLE RECIPES AT THE BOTTOM
Whipped Shortbread (cornstarch version)
yields 2 dozen

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
red & green candied cherries (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Then continue whipping slowly adding in sugar, cornstarch, and flour.  Roll into small balls and flatten with palm of your hand or drop cookies by spoonful 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Top with candied cherries if desired.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven.

Whipped Shortbread
yields 2 dozen

NGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
red & green candied cherries (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
2. Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Then continue whipping slowly adding in the confectioners' sugar and flour. Drop by the spoonful onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Add cherried if desired.

3. Bake for 12-15 minuites in preheated oven.

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