Clock Cookies

What You Need:

• ½ pound butter, softened
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• ½ cup sugar
• Food processor
• Non-stick cookie sheet
• Fork
• Colored sugar crystals
• Roman numerals worksheet

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. While the oven heats, show your young helper the worksheet about Roman Numerals. 
3. Help your child place the butter, flour, sugar and corn starch in the bowl of the food processor. 
4. Let him pulse the food processor until the mixture is well blended.  It will look crumbly unlike bread dough which forms into a ball.
5. Dump the mixture out on the baking stone or cookie sheet. 
6. Encourage your child to pat it into a large circle approximately 3/4 inch thick.
7. Now use the fork to prick the Roman Numerals into the dough.  Shortbread is traditionally pricked with a fork before baking; this time it is simply being done in a set pattern.  Don’t forget to add the hands on the clock.
8. Let your child sprinkle colored sugar into the holes left by the fork. 
9. Bake the shortbread in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until it begins to lightly brown around the edges. 
10. Once cooled, shortbread can be cut or simply broken apart to be shared with family and friends who have gathered together to celebrate the luck of a New Year.