A family favourite – easy to make and delicious to eat.
Our cousin Carole wrote to let us know that she had shared this blog with members of her village via their online noticeboard; so, a big shout-out to everyone in Stithians. Carole particularly mentioned fun cooking ‘with the kids’. Therefore, we made shortbread this morning which is a great recipe to get children involved… there’s mixing rolling out, cutting, re-rolling, more cutting etc. and they only take 15 to 20 minuted to bake.
The recipe below is how we make these delicious biscuits (and to avoid confusion for our American friends – shortbread is neither a bread nor a biscuit – you would call these ‘cookies’). You can easily transform these into vegan and/or gluten-free versions… simply substitute a vegan spread for the butter and/or use gluten-free flour (note: the gluten-free flour does make these a little crumbly; but, our coeliac friends say they are great).
Ingredients
- 100g of butter (easier if this is at room temperature)
- 45g of sugar (granulated)
- (Optional zest of half a lemon)
- 15g of cornflour
- 160g of plain flour
It is worth noting here that we usually make double quantities as these are not only delicious (one batch doesn’t last long), they also keep well in an air-tight container.
Start by weighing out the butter and sugar and cream these together.
Sift the two flours (plain flour and cornflour).
If you are using lemon zest (we like the slight lemon flavour it imparts) mix it in with the flour and mix everything together. You will be able to bring the mixture into a ball of cookie dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll out the dough (we split it in half at this point to make it manageable) to about 0.5 – 0.75 cm thick. You decide – thin ones are delicate, thick ones are more traditional.
And now, let the children loose with the cutters. Once cut, place them onto greased baking trays. As you cut gather up the off-cuts and roll them out again.
You will see that, on the round ones, we have made ‘dot’ patterns – these are done using a fork (lightly pressed into the surface. Once all cut, they will need about 15 to 20 minutes to cook in the oven set to 150C (check them after 15 mins and they are ready once the edges start to go golden).
Try to let them cool a little before you dive in.
