Shortbread biscuits make my mouth water!
I do love short bread, but I have also come to dislike it quite a lot too! (more on that in Part 2 tomorrow!)
Last week Beau, Darcey and I made a load of vanilla cookies to give as Christmas gifts. One was for our brilliant postie. He’s great and since going freelance in March I now have a lot of heavy post including four magazine subscriptions Tim also has two, tons of press releases, books to review and products to test, so we keep him really busy and fit.
When he delivers he normally opens the porch door to drop the pile of post inside, so we left his tip and the cookies in that spot for him to find on his early morning rounds. The problem was that the post that day was just small letters and was put through the letterbox. The gift was still there waiting in the evening. And the same thing happened the next day! Then it was Christmas and there was no post for days and the vanilla cookies were not going to taste their best! So we have made him these shortbread biscuits instead.
Beau and Darcey are currently sitting by the living room window looking out for him as I type, so that we don’t miss him again!
Ingredients
225g Plain flour
100g Semolina
225g butter (at room temperature)
100g Caster Sugar
30g granulated sugar
To make the shortbread biscuits
Line baking tins with baking paper and set aside in the fridge. Heat the oven to 160°C, Fan 140°C, Gas Mark 3.
Measure out the butter and sugar into your mixing bowl and sift the flour and semolina into another bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light in colour.
Add the dry ingredients and blend again.
Continue to mix until the dough is formed and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for an hour in the fridge.
Knead the dough as little as possible then roll it out. Use some plain flour to stop it sticking. Cut out your biscuits and give them a little space on the baking tin the shortbread will spread a little bit.
Use a fork to make holes to ensure that the biscuits cook right through. This method is usually for when you bake one large biscuit to be cut up later in a cake tin and the shortbread is much thicker, but I liked the pattern it made with the cookie cutter.
Sprinkle sugar over the cookies.This will almost disappear on the shortbread but adds to the look and taste! I used granulated but you can use brown, cinnamon or Demerara sugar too.
Pop the shortbread cookies in the oven for 20 minutes or until they are a pale golden brown colour. Then remove from the oven and leave for a few minutes before transferring them onto a rack to cool completely. Try to resist eating them whilst still hot. I can’t! I love them straight out of the oven!
We placed the cooled shortbread into a zip-lock bag so that they were air tight (they need to be kept in an air tight container and also should be eaten within 2 days – this shouldn’t be a problem!) and then placed them into a paper gift bag tied with ribbon and mini baubles. I know Christmas is over but better late than never! I hope he likes them!
More shortbread fun tomorrow!
Enjoy!
More biscuits and cookies you may enjoy
Dairy Free chocolate chip cookie recipe
Fast from the freezer Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Some seriously chocolatey cookies
The easy way to make Viennese biscuits
Vanilla Biscuits – chocolate style
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I used a spray used for greasing cake tins, it worked a treat. Also I let the shortbread cool for 10 minutes before removing from the mould, gently go round it with a knife to loosen it.
Thanks. I’ll have to give that a go…. if I can ever find the mould again. I may have burned it in frustration!
EmmaMT
No baking powder? Saw baking powder in 1 other recipe online.
Ahh everyone has a different take on their recipes. I like shortcrust pastry with an egg yolk and apparently that’s a bit out there too! Each to their own I suppose.
EmmaMT
My recipe is really a really easy cheats version but very delicious. I have never had trouble getting it out of the baking tin, but it is cut into.fingers so maybe that is why it comes out easier. Recipe:
125g caster sugar, 125g cornflour, 2cups plain flour, 250g melted butter.
Method: mix dry ingredients together. Mix in the melted butter. Press into 28cm x 18 cm tin and bake at 170° for 30 mins. Remove from oven and cut into squares or fingers, sprinkle with caster sugar, prick each piece with a fork, then return to oven for 15 mins. Cool in tin.
My daughter Beau says “Thanks for this” and I do too!
EmmaMT