Lemon Shortbread Cookies

I'd had this recipe card in my box for a long time--well over a decade, easily, and had never gotten around to trying.  I can't say that I recommend this one personally, but my husband enjoyed the cookies, so I guess it's not a complete failure lol.  The recipe in just a slightly different form can be found here: http://www.argostarch.com/Recipe/Holiday_Shortbread_Cookies
The one I have on the card does not include putting icing on them, nor does it call it a holiday cookie.  The site is right about one thing--they are very tender...a bit too tender, actually.  They would crumble if you held them with anything more than a light grip, which was difficult since they were on the dense/heavy side.  Either way, here is what my experience with it looked like...

Ingredients:

1 1/3 c. corn starch
2 c. butter or margarine (I used butter)
2/3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Beat butter until softened:

3. Add powdered sugar; beat until well combined:

4. Add lemon peel and vanilla; beat well.

5. In a medium bowl, stir together flour and corn starch; add to butter mixture and beat well:

6. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  **The dough was so soft that "rolling" it was not really an option.  Instead, I just tried my best to make rounded heaps:*

I put them far apart, as I really had my doubts about the batter holding up at all.

7. Bake about 15 minutes, or until bottom edges are lightly browned.
**I did exactly this, and the cookies barely changed shape; for some reason, I can't find the pictures I took of them.  The first one I tried to get off of the sheet nearly crumbled from being touched by the spatula a little too hard.**

The other odd thing about these cookies is that the picture on my card shows the finished product with fork lines on it, as though the cookies were pressed down prior to baking (which would make sense for a shortbread type cookie).  I added a little flour to the second batch and attempted in vain to make the fork mark flattening on them.  This still didn't help the results, honestly.  I won't be doing them again, as I have another shortbread recipe I like far better; just wanted to blog this one to remember NOT to do these lol :)