shortbread recipe

MidLifeCrisis_3

8 oz butter
4 oz icing sugar
2 oz cornflour
10 oz plain flour

Mix dry ingredients together, add chopped softened butter, work into breadcrumbs with your fingers and form into a ball.

Roll out, cut into shapes with a biscuit cutter and bake for 15-20 min at 150c. Leave to cool (if you can!). For a real treat dip half of each biscuit into melted chocolate and leave to set.

Alternatively, press into a tin and bake for approx 45 min.

Enjoy!

ninnoodle

Thank you! I'm going to make this RIGHT NOW!

ninnoodle

They turned out great - really yum! It's different slightly from the usual shortbread recipe I follow but just as good. I cut into biscuits and didn't have time to dip them in melted chocolate (guess I could later). They make a nice big plateful! I found I had to keep them in the oven twice as long though - but that could just be my oven.

jackyann

can I add a tip I was given years ago which makes all the difference?
Sift the dry bingredients on to a board, cut up the butter in the middle, then work it all together.
Sometimes the water content in the butter varies and you may not need all the butter or all the flour
This way you can get the texture just right

rosie383

I have been asked to make some shortbread, which is something I have never mastered.
I have googled and found different advice on baking in top of oven, lower in oven etc etc.

So, come on please. Give me your absolute foolproof recipes and tips please. If there is an existing thread, please move, but I couldn't find one, and really don't have time to wade through pages and pages today. I must buy the ingredients in the next couple of hours, and bake them tomorrow morning (with maybe a practice run today).
She has asked for small, maybe 2" ones, half dipped in chocolate. It's for a special event thing and I don't want to get it wrong.

gibson123

Shortbread is 2/4/6

2 ounce sugar
4 oz butter (salted) it has to be butter.
6 oz plain flour (sifted)

The secret is do not mess about with it, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is almost white, gradually add in the flour, but don't mess about, mix with your hands, clean the bowl with the mixture and press into a square tin (don't roll), mark the top into the shapes you want (don't cut), and straight into the middle of a gas 4 oven, for 20 to 25 minutes, cut about half way when they come out of the oven but leave to cool in the tin, dust with caster sugar (leave this out if you are doing chocolate ones. Break into fingers when cool. good luck

gibson123

Sorry missed the bit where you mark with a fork.

rosie383

Thanks Gibson.
A couple of questions if I may:
She wants biscuits rather than a round cut into wedges. So, same principle but cook slightly less time?
Would I mark with fork anyway even if round ones?

Oh, and what about cornflour/ riceflour- do I not need to put some of that or doesn't it matter?

Need2bthrifty

Hi Rosie383, I always rely on Mary Berry's Shortbread recipe,

4oz plain flour
2oz semolina or rice flour or cornflour
4oz butter
2oz caster sugar

Oven temp 160C/325F/gas 3.
Mix flour & semolina in a bowl or food processor. Add butter & sugar and rub together with fingertips or process in the food processor until the mixture begins to bind together. Knead lightly until a smooth dough forms.

Mary suggests rolling it on the prepared tray into a 7 inch circle, however I have used both moulds and a swiss roll sized tin, pressed it using my fingers to the desired thickness, but remember the thinner you make it you need to shorten the cooking time.

Mark the size of biscuits you want and stab (doesn't like the Prck word) all over with a fork. Chill until firm.

Bake for about 35mins or until a very pale golden, before it cools remark the biscuit shape and dust with caster or demerara sugar, leave to cool for about 5mins on the baking tray then gently lift with a palette knife onto a wire rack to cool.

I have used semolina and it gives a nice crunchy texture to the biscuits, also used cornflour and the biscuits turned out a nice smooth but crumbly texture.

gibson123

rosie383 wrote: »

Thanks Gibson.
A couple of questions if I may:
She wants biscuits rather than a round cut into wedges. So, same principle but cook slightly less time?
Would I mark with fork anyway even if round ones?

Oh, and what about cornflour/ riceflour- do I not need to put some of that or doesn't it matter?

proper shortbread will be short, so the no messing means you do it in one piece, mark it out and cut it once it is baked, put it in a square tin and then mark the squares, when it comes out of the oven, cut half way down the biscuit, cool in the tin and once cool snap off.

if she wants biscuits my recipe won't work, you will need a shortbread biscuit recipe which will have less flour and be less short I think, sorry i only ever make shortbread the old fashioned way.

You can substitute a spoonful of riceflour or cornflour in my recipe but i don't bother, it makes very little difference.