Shortbread: A Simple Cookie with Options

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by LPBeier

Who are you callin' old, Uncle Bob? Careful or I won't give you any more candy recipes!

That's serious!!! Do ya really think the punishment fits the crime??

Really -- Is this the stuff that mammy's little baby loved in the song???

Shortin, Shortin -- Mammy's little baby loves shortin bread

[LPBeier]

You are right, that was a little harsh. Next good candy recipe is yours!

And No, in answer to your question, the song is not about shortbread but a fried batter bread made with shortening. Wikipedia has a good explanation. I remember my grandmother used to sing this whenever she was making corn fritters and the like!

Are we friends again

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by LPBeier

You are right, that was a little harsh. Next good candy recipe is yours!

And No, in answer to your question, the song is not about shortbread but a fried batter bread made with shortening. Wikipedia has a good explanation. I remember my grandmother used to sing this whenever she was making corn fritters and the like!

Are we friends again

Yeah...I saw that link...However when I Googled Recipe Shortnin Bread I came up with many recipes similar to what's in Scotch's post...Seems in my part of the country brown sugar flour, and sugar was more the norm....

Friends?? ---- Always!!!

[Scotch]

Wikipedia says "Shortening bread is a fried batter bread, the ingredients of which include corn meal, flour, hot water, eggs, baking powder, milk and shortening."

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Scotch

Wikipedia says "Shortening bread is a fried batter bread, the ingredients of which include corn meal, flour, hot water, eggs, baking powder, milk and shortening."

Thanks Scotch, but I trust the Mystic Palm Reader at the State Fair more than I do Wikipedia..

[Scotch]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Thanks Scotch, but I trust the Mystic Palm Reader at the State Fair more than I do Wikipedia..

Gee, I can't imagine why!

I looked through several of my older cookbooks, including my southern cookbooks, and found nothing. I finally found one recipe called "shortnin' bread" in the Fanny Farmer Baking Book, and it's just a variation on shortbread cookies.

However, this site may have the best explanation. It says "Shortnin' bread - a term used to describe the preparation of many Southern quick breads - is like corn bread with strips of bacon. The word "shortening" actually refers to all types of fat used in baking, including: butter, lard, solid shortening, oil and margarine. However, a number of quick breads (banana, zucchini, cranberry, rhubarb and pumpkin) don't seem to fit this category very well, because shortening isn't really the "featured" ingredient. If you're open to interpretation, the term "Shortnin' Bread" implies not much more than a recipe containing fat and flour. Therefore, it could be argued that certain butter-rich cookies (Scottish shortbread) and cakes (shortcake) fall into this category."

I think I'll take the cookies from the Times article.

[Uncle Bob]

Thanks Scotch! -- As with a lot of food origins there seems to be differing opinions/ideas/etc on exactly what Shortnin bread was/is...Often times the social context, regional linguistics, customs and traditions must be taken in to account, and then they don't always agree
Maybe someone should have asked James Whitcomb Riley what exactly he was referring to in the poem.

I'm with you...Think I'll go with the Times Idea (Cookie/Bread) Maybe with brown sugar however!!

Thanks for your original post! It got me to thinking!!