Aah – ‘Tis the season to be jolly…! I love how right after Halloween everything turns green and red and the preparation for Christmas is in full gear. Of course how can Christmas be complete without some form of Shortbread consumption small or big, in stockings or just to have with tea 🙂
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Shortbreads are tricky I think. You can never be too sure what kind of Shortbread the person you are giving it to prefers. Soft and buttery or crumbly and grainy! My preference is for the soft and buttery, which is what this recipe will give. For people who like a bit of crunch replace the icing sugar with caster sugar instead. It’s the sugar you use which determines the texture of the shortbread. Icing sugar gives it soft and buttery while caster sugar will make it crunchy and grainy.Â
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I prefer to just mix everything together with cold butter with my hands. It’s somewhat relaxing and you end up getting the dough exactly how you need it – no over mixing or pulsing with a food processor.
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Ingredients:
1 1/4 C flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 C icing sugar
1/2 C butter + 1 tbsp (cold and cut into pieces)
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Directions:
Pre heat oven to 160 C
Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and rub the butter gently until the mixture is crumbly and there are no large particles
Gather the mixture with your hands to form a dough and press into a square (8″) or round (9″) pan
Make impressions around the edge with the tines of a fork and prick the surface. Pricking the surface is important so the dough doesn’t puff up and rise unevenly while baking
 Chill in fridge for 15 mins and then bake for 25 mins or until the top is pale golden brown
 Mix all the ingredients and rub butter till crumblyForm a dough and press into baking tinCreate impressions with tines of a fork and prick the surfaceRemove from oven once pale golden brown
