OK, they may not be a health food, but it’s Christmas! Serve on Christmas Day with strawberries, creme patissiere (custard cream) and whipped cream as a dessert, or simply have with a cup of tea. Perfect!
Recipe by Alice Taylor @aliceoliviaeats
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ cup icing sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornflour
- pinch of salt
- 250g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- zest of one lemon or 1 tsp of vanilla extract (optional)
Preheat oven to 150ºC
- In a food processor, combine flour, icing sugar, cornflour and salt by pulsing a few times.
- Keep the food processor running on a medium speed, while adding 2 cubes of the chilled butter at a time. Wait before adding the next 2 cubes until the butter has incorporated into the flour. Repeat this step.
- Once all the butter has been combined, keep the processor running at a medium constant speed until the mixture just begins to come together and starts to form a ball.
- Remove from the processor to a clean bench, and knead the dough until smooth, for about one minute.
- Roll the shortbread into a large sausage shape, cover in glad wrap, and allow to rest and firm up in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove the shortbread from the glad wrap. Using a sharp knife, cut the sausage into rounds, 5mm thick. Alternatively, roll out the dough using a rolling pin to 4mm, and use cookie cutters to cut shapes.
- Lay on a lined baking tray and bake for between 15-25 minutes, until lightly golden. The cooking time will vary on your oven, so keep checking every few minutes.
- Allow to cool fully before storing in an airtight container.
