Shortbread

Previous years I attempted making mince pies (using store bought shortcrust pastry was not a good idea, the crust was too hard), fruit cake (slightly too dense), chocolate fudge and brazil nuts brittle for Christmas. This time round, I'm going to keep things as simple as possible and make cranberry shortbread.

I'm not sure why shortbread is associated with Christmas. I remembered reading somewhere that says shortbread was traditionally served as dessert. Surely mince pies, egg nog, christmas puddings are more popular options then?

Anyway, AR has been a huge fan of shortbread since I know him. That must be like 7-8 years ago? Wow, how time flew by. I know he has been working really hard recently so I thought I will make some shortbread for his snacks rather than relying on store bought one. It also gave me a good reason to practice making these lovely biscuits. I also wanted to try the Donna Hay recipe and compare it to my previous attempts of making cranberry shortbread.

The result? An excellent crumby shortbread. I did not use a food processor (as I don't have one) and used normal beaters instead. Surprisingly it did work. Then again, I wouldn't have a clue how a shortbread would be like if I used a food processor instead. As for comparing it to the cranberry shortbread that I made previously? Well.... that's a hard one! I guess I would have to add cranberries to this recipe for a fairer comparison. =)

Shortbread by Donna Hay Classics 2

220grams of butter (mine was slightly soft)
1/4 cup of caster sugar
2 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup of rice flour
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 egg

Preheat oven to 160C. Beat butter and sugar till combine. Add egg and vanilla. Fold in Flour and rice flour till a dough is formed.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently (for about 5 minutes). Press the mixture into a slice pan lined with baking paper. Using a knife, score the top of the dough to make long bars. Bake for about 1 hr till golden. Cool. Slice along the score marks.