Shortbread

This is a recipe that my family have been using for years.  I believe it is originally a Scottish Recipe as my grandparents used to regularly holiday there, but it is one that has come through the generations.  Unusually it includes conflour, a lot of the recipes I have seen use ground rice It can be moulded and will make one large or about 8 small shortbreads, but we tend to use a small square or round cake tray press it down and then prick all over with a fork.  It is light, extremely moorish and quite simply delish.

 We always have shortbread at Christmas.  It is one of those things we just automatically make.  Christmas just is not Christmas without shortbread.

Ingredients

6oz plain flour
2oz cornflour
2oz caster sugar
4oz butter preferably unsalted but comes up quite well with salted
sugar to decorate

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/160 degrees C.325 degrees F.
  2. Lightly flour a mould and line a baking sheet with baking parchment, or grease a baking tin
  3. Sift cornflour and sugar into a mixing bowl
  4. cut the butter into pieces and rub into the flour mixture until dough like.
  5. If using a mould place some dough into the mould and press to fit.  Invert the mould onto the baking sheet and tap firmly to release the dough shape.  Repeat with the rest of the dough.  Or press dough into baking tin and shape to tin with your fingers smoothing the top and then pricking with a fork all over.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until shortbread is pale golden in colour.
  7. sprinkle the top f the shortbread with a little sugar and cool on baking sheet or in tin.
  8. Wrap in cellophane or pack in a box tied with ribbon.
  9. If made for a general house bake store in a air tight container or cake tin.
This is easily made and very delicious.  A tin of shortbread is on sale for about £8 at our local Co-op it was on offer earlier for £4, but why buy when you can make home made which tastes far better everytime.  The only thing that is missing is the pretty tin,but you can always recycle sweet or biscuit tins from previous years. Lets face it, it is relatively cheap to make, and could quite easily be packaged in cellophane bags and given away as a gift to a friend who doesn't bake for Christmas. Something that is home made has something of the maker in there bundled up with a whole load of love.

Comments

  1. My recipe for short bread is: 5ozs flour, I oz cornflour 4ozs butter, 2 ozs sugar. Sieve the flour into a bowl, stir in the sugar and rub in the butter till it all gathers together, roll into a round and press into a well greased 7" sponge cake tin. Prick with a fork and mark into wedges.

    Bake at 160oC for about 45 minutes, turn out of the tin, dregde with castor sugar,place on a flat tray and allow to dry in the cooling oven for another 15 minues. take it out of the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

    To make fingers place the dough into a square tin and mark into equal fingers.....bake as above.

    This recipe has been handed down from Edwins Grandmother who was of course a Scot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anne

    Very similar recipes. My Nan used to put them on the cooling rack on top of the Rayburn once cooked. I know my Nan used this recipe and I am surmising that my Nan got it from one of her many trips to Scotland. However, it is possible that it is one of my Great Grandmother's recipes on my Granddad's side. Her father was definitely Scottish (although we are not sure where she was born) her father is believed to be from the Aberdeen area. Until recently we didn't even have a photo of her, but someone from extended family has kindly provided us with the same.

    A lot of recipes I have seen though do use ground rice but then again I am not sure how authentic some of these recipes are, but this one has been in constant use through at least 4 generations of our family that I know of.

    Its nice to know that the recipe is probably genuine. Unfortunately my grandmother never wrote down any recipes and only gave the odd one or two of the regular favourites to us, including her Christmas Fruit loaf recipe, which uses yeast.

    Take care

    Tricia

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just the thought of shortbread makes me salivate! The recipe I use is similar to yours Tricia.

    Please pop over to my blog - there's an Award waiting for you there :o)

    Best wishes
    Rose H

    ReplyDelete

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