There is no room to hide
Shortbread has so few ingredients that it is extremely important to use top-quality ingredients. Use real butter and make sure your flour is not stale (it will smell slightly musty when you open the bag).
Salt is key
It may seem counterintuitive, but a good pinch of salt is one of the most important parts of a good shortbread. The richness from the butter needs a salty hit to amplify the flavour. I like to scatter demerara sugar and a pinch of sea salt flakes on mine as they go into the oven. If I am making a large batch for a gift, I will roll the shortbread into a sausage and chill for an hour before baking. I will paint the dough sausage with whisked egg white and roll it in demerara and sea salt and then slice it into discs for baking.
Rice flour or not to rice flour?
Some recipes for shortbread cookies call for rice flour in order to achieve an extra crisp texture, but in my opinion, it is not an essential component. Rice flour certainly adds a light crisp texture to the result, but it loses some of the tender, crumbly mouthfeel we love so much.
Don't overwork
The key with shortbread is not to overhandle it. Make the dough exactly as instructed, but don't mess around making shapes or over rolling the dough - you will end up with delicious but tough biscuits. Stretching and pulling the dough activates the gluten in the flour, making chewy cookies and not crisp ones.
Once you've mastered the recipe, experiment
This recipe is a brilliant basic biscuit recipe that will take on most flavours really well. The zest of citrus fruit, some dried fruit or chunks of dark chocolate are always a good way to start. If you are adding items like chocolate or nuts that will change the texture of the cookie, it's always good to chill your dough before you bake it to avoid too much spreading. If you do chill it, add an extra three or four minutes to the cooking time.
Never let it brown
Shortbread should never be brown - if it gets to that stage, your cookies are overdone. The best rule to follow with shortbread is to whip it out as the corners begin to take on a very light caramel tinge. Allow them to cool and firm up on the tray.
Vanilla shortbread
recipe by:Michelle Darmody
These delectable, melt in your mouth shortbread biscuits are perfect for kids to get involved in the kitchen and can be decorated with icing and sprinkles
Servings
24
Cooking Time
15 mins
Total Time
60 mins
Course
Baking
Ingredients
125g butter, softened
50g caster sugar
1 drop vanilla extract
180g plain flour, sieved
Method
Line a baking tray with parchment and pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
It is easiest to use an electric whisk or mixer for this recipe, but if you do not have one, you can combine the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon and a strong arm. If you are using the mixer combine the butter and the sugar until smooth.
Add the flour and vanilla and slowly combine. Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough to one centimetre in thickness. Cut out your biscuit shapes.
You can cut any shape that you wish but I would stick to similar size shapes as you want them to take the same amount of time baking. If you have a small cookie beside a large one the smaller will burn while the larger is still baking.
Place the cookies on your baking tray and place it into the fridge to chill for a half an hour.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes, then allow to cool on a wire rack.
