🕰️ The Clock that Smelled of Vanilla
The Clock that Smelled of Vanilla
Recipe: Vanilla Shortbread Cookies
There was a little clock in the corner of Lucia’s bakery, old and wooden, that had stopped ticking years ago. It didn’t matter; Lucia kept it anyway. Every morning, as she opened her shop, she dusted the shelves, tied her apron, and wound the silent clock, whispering, “Just in case time decides to listen today.”
Her late husband had built that clock, carving its face from maple wood and lining its edges with brass. The day it stopped, so did her laughter for a while. But the scent of vanilla—his favorite—kept finding its way back into the room whenever she baked.
One winter afternoon, Lucia mixed butter and sugar in her bowl, lost in thought, when she heard a faint tick. Then another. The clock’s hands trembled, moving one minute forward. And as the aroma of vanilla shortbread filled the air, Lucia swore she heard his voice: “Don’t forget to smile when you open the door.”
From that day on, the clock would only tick while something was baking. Lucia stopped measuring time by minutes and began to count by cookies—one batch at a time, one sweet memory reborn in the warmth of the oven.
Vanilla Shortbread Cookies
Total time: 30 min  |  Yields: ~24 cookies
Ingredients
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 200 g cold butter, cubed
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F).
- Whisk flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a bowl.
- Add cold butter and rub with fingertips (or pulse in a processor) until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- Add vanilla and gently bring the dough together (do not overwork).
- Roll to about 1 cm thick. Cut into shapes—circles, hearts, or clocks.
- Place on a parchment-lined tray and bake 12–15 min, until edges are pale gold.
- Cool completely before storing in a tin (they’re even better the next day).
Sweet Moral
Time doesn’t heal everything—it bakes it slowly, until the scent of something loved fills the room again.