my new favorite thing to bake

Actually, this title is misleading. If you know me at all, this is the ONLY thing I really know how to bake. I mean, sure I can throw together cake mixes and such. And I'm pretty good at doctoring them a little here and there to make them taste better than just out of the box. But when it comes to baking in general, I haven't been a fan.Until I was forced to spend winter weekends indoors all day with a toddler. Then I had to get creative, and fast.Besides Ezra's love of me baking, my parents got me the absolute best holiday gift ever, a Kitchen Aid mixer! I KNOW! I was so stunned and happy and surprised! So now I feel like I *have* to learn to bake all kinds of things in order to justify that gorgeous piece of machinery on my kitchen counter!I think this recipe is a good place to start because 1) it's easy 2) it's fast and 3) I usually have the ingredients in my cupboard. I blogged a few weeks ago that I was going to give this one a shot, and now that I've made it four or five times, I feel like I can confidently pass it on, as well as tell you a few adjustments that made this recipe work much better for me. So here it goes.  [kindred-recipe id="16157" title="Shortbread and jam cookies"]