Christmastime means it’s time for Christmas movies, and one of my favorites is Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. A bizarre but heartwarming tale of where snow comes from, it also happens to star Vincent Price in one of his final roles, in which he plays an inventor. One of his inventions is a massive cookie making machine, which inspired me to look to his cookbooks for a cookie recipe this holiday season. In flipping through A Treasury of Great Recipes I found a recipe for Scotch shortbread which I thought would be perfect!


Like with previous recipes we did end up making a substitution. The recipe listed cake flour, however, not having cake flour and not wanting to go to the store for one item, we chose to use all purpose flour. Overall the recipe is very simple and easy to make, with a short list of ingredients.













Each of the recipes features a short paragraph detailing where Price and his wife got the recipe (these cookies actually came from Price’s sister-in-law) and sometimes little anecdotes, here he shared that these cookies go “perfect with a cup of tea.” And, yes, I was inspired by Price’s costume for this little baking adventure.

The recipe is suppose to yield 48 rectangular cookies, however, in wanting to try to replicate the large heart shaped cookie as seen in the film, as well as a few snowflakes, we ended up with only a handful of large cookies. I also should have thought to make all of the snowflake cookies in one batch, and all of the hearts in one batch, since the snowflakes baked must faster than the hearts. Oh well! They were still tasty! The were so buttery they practically melted in the mouth.
If this has also gotten you in the mood to watch Edward Scissorhands it is (as of this date) streaming on Starz, and is available to rent and purchase through iTunes and Amazon. If you want to whip these up or any other of Price’s creations, you can purchase A Treasury of Great Recipes new on Amazon here, as well as Bookshop, and Powell’s, as well as used on Ebay or Etsy.
Is there a holiday movie that is a favorite for you or anything you must bake each holiday?

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I too love shortbread and always try to bake some each season. The other tradition in my family is Coconut Tarts (with raspberry jam filling) and Cranberry Tarts. It’s not Christmas without both of those recipes!
I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Yuuuuummmm!!! I melt faster than butter in this recipe for a great shortbread. 😍
Your outfit is such a fabulous homage to that scene, and cookies look so festive and lovely.
For me, watching both White Christmas and Charlie Brown’s Christmas, plus baking (GF) peppermint brownies and maraschino cherry snowball cookies are serious musts come the Christmas season.
Autumn Zenith 🧡 Witchcrafted Life