Shortbread
a rich, buttery shortbread made from simple ingredients
Servings: 36 pieces
Equipment
- 3 7"/18cm round shallow sandwich tins
Ingredients
- 9 oz butter
- 6 oz caster sugar plus extra for sprinkling
- 4 oz self raising flour
- 12 oz plain flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 120C (fan).
- Soften the butter - the easiest way to do this is in a microwave on full power for 20 second bursts, stirring each time. The butter should be very soft and smooth but not melted.
- Cream the softened butter together with the caster sugar until pale in colour. This can be done by hand with a wooden spoon or in an electric mixer on high speed. It should only take a few minutes if the butter is soft enough.
- Add the flours and mix to combine. If using an electric mixer mix on minimum speed.
- Divide the mixture equally in three and place each part in one of the sandwich tins. Spread the mixture and press down evenly then mark around the outside with a fork and prick all over to prevent the shortbread rising unevenly.
- Bake for approx 1 hour 30 minutes until pale golden (it should not be brown) and firm to touch if pressed in the centre. Remove from the oven and immediately cut into 12 equal sized pieces. Allow to cool in the tin.
- When cooled, sprinkle with extra caster sugar and tap the sides of the tin until the pieces are released.
Notes
The quality of your finished shortbread depends on the quality of the ingredients.
Block butter with a fat content of at least 80% is essential, do not use the spreadable type in a tub or any other spread or margarine. The only exception to this is if you would like to make your shortbread dairy-free, in that case use Flora Plant. You may also like to add a little bit of vanilla extract to mask the taste of the Flora Plant, I wouldn't use vanilla if using real butter, it doesn't need it.
Some flour brands can have a bitter taste which will spoil your shortbread. Most supermarket flours are fine, even their budget ones.
Ovens can vary so you might need to adjust the temperature and/or cooking time to get the perfect shortbread - pale in colour and firm to bite.