Shortbread
- Prep: 20m
- Cook: 25m
- Serves: 14
There is no biscuit more simple or more delicious than shortbread. And the recipe is easy to remember too - one, two, three: one part sugar, two parts butter, three parts flour. You can experiment with flavours, adding fennel seeds, or a sprinkle of lavender, or a little lemon zest to each new batch as your store cupboard inspires you.
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan / gas mark 3 ½.
- Put the sugar and butter in a food processor and whizz briefly to combine. Add the flour and whizz again to form a coarse crumble, this should take less than 30 seconds. Tip the crumble onto a work surface and bring it together with your hands to form a dough. The skill is to get a smooth dough without kneading too much (which would make the biscuit greasy).
- Dust the dough with flour and roll out to 4mm thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut 28 biscuits and arrange them on a lined baking tray. You can knead the off cuts back together and re-roll them to use up all the dough, but remember to handle the mixture as little as possible.
- Bake the biscuits for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove and sprinkle with a little caster sugar then leave to cool. They will keep for 2-3 days in a sealed container, but you will eat them quicker than that.
Ingredients
All to be sourced organic where possible
- 50g caster sugar, plus extra for finishing
- 100g butter, softened
- 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
