Shortbread Dough

For biscuits or an edible birthday card.

This amount makes about 12 medium biscuit shapes or one A5 edible birthday card (yes its a thing!) with dough to spare. I usually make double the amount listed below and freeze half of it. I sleep better knowing there’s biscuit dough in the house, ready go should the need arise.

INGREDIENTS

120g plain flour

30g corn flour

100g salted butter - softened

65g icing sugar or caster sugar

HOW TO

• Start with the butter soft enough that you can easily mix the sugar into it by hand.

• In a separate bowl mix the plain flour (all purpose flour) with the corn flour (corn starch) then add that to the butter and sugar mix.

• Mix the flour in with a spatula until it’s obvious you’ll need to swap to your hands to pull the rough clumps of dough together.

• Try to handle the dough as little as possible but bring it together to a single… clump.*

• Roll the dough to a thickness of between 3 to 4mm on lightly floured baking paper, with another sheet on top to prevent tearing or sticking to the rolling pin.

• Slip the dough, on its paper onto a baking sheet and chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes, this will make it easier to cut shapes out.

• I find I can reform the offcuts and reroll them twice before they get overworked and the resultant biscuits are tough.

• Arrange the biscuits on a lined baking tray, if the biscuits have sat around warming up, it’s a good idea to chill them again for 15 minutes so they hold their shape when they bake.

• After chilling, bake at 160ºc in the middle of the oven for approximately 14 minutes, but timings depend on size and shape.

• You’re looking for the biscuit surface to be dry and sandy and ever so slightly golden but not browned.

• When you take the biscuits out of the oven leave them on the tray for 2 minutes to set, if you try and lift them too soon they will most likely break.

• When they have cooled and set slightly, remove them from the tray and cool them completely on a rack.

• You can now sandwich them with whatever you like or decorate them however you like. Or dunk them in tea or cut out the middle drink and dunk them straight in your mouth.

• Have fun!

Tat x

*Makes a mental note to use the word ‘clump’ more often.