My Shortbread Recipe!

Hiya! Yay, I'm finally posting on time! Sorry about the last couple of weeks and my various excuses for not posting on time, but hopefully I'll keep up to date from now on! Today's post is a recipe post of my shortbread recipe. This is my own recipe which was passed down to me from my mum. It's a pretty simple recipe, nothing too special really, that most people probably use to make a basic shortbread. I've included some photos too, so it's easier for you to follow along. So without further ado, here's my shortbread recipe...

Ingredients:
~ 50 grams of caster sugar
~ 100 grams of butter/margarine
~ 150 grams of plain/all purpose flour
~ 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract (don't panic if you don't have vanilla at home - it's just for an extra bit of flavour and the recipe works perfectly fine without it!)

Equipment:
~ Mixing bowl
~ Wooden spoon
~ Measuring spoons
~ Scales
~ Rolling pin (which isn't in the photo below!)
~ Cookie cutter(s)
~ Baking tray

Now that you know what you need and you're all set up, let's crack on with the recipe...

1) Firstly, preheat your oven to 190 Degrees Celsius/170 degrees for a fan assisted oven/gas mark 5. Then grease a baking tray using kitchen paper and a small amount of butter/margarine, to ensure your biscuits don't get stuck to the tray.

2) Next, weigh out your caster sugar using the scales and add to your mixing bowl, making sure you break up any lumps. Then weigh out and add the butter/marg to the mixing bowl.

3) Mix well with the wooden spoon, until rather thick and creamy. Measure and add the vanilla and mix well into the butter/sugar combination.

4) Now you need to weigh and add the flour. You can sieve the flour, however I'm lazy and chose not to!

5) Mix well until your mixture resembles a dough that can be formed into a ball without crumbling apart or leaving a sticky residue on your fingers. If your dough is too dry/crumbly, slowly add a few drops of water to bring it together. If it's too wet/sticky, add a bit more flour until it forms a smoother dough. Mine worked without having to add anything extra, so hopefully so will yours!

6) Roll out your dough using the rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. You may also want to sprinkle a touch of flour over your dough and rolling pin too. Don't roll the dough too thin, as they will burn easily in the oven! Hopefully my photos of the finished biscuits will give a better idea on how thick to roll your dough!

7) Cut out shapes of your choice using various cookie cutters and place on the baking tray. I chose to go for all circles - pretty boring really!

8) Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes depending on thickness. I had two trays of biscuits; the first took 14 minutes and the second (thinner) batch took 12. I'd say start off by giving the biscuits 12 minutes and then add if needed. If you think your biscuits are particularly thin, start off with 10 minutes and then check on them to see if they need longer - you don't want burnt biscuits after all!

9) Once the biscuits are done, place on a cooling rack to, well, cool! If you don't have a colling rack a plate will do the job just fine! Try them warm for the tastiest results, but NOT AS SOON AS YOU TAKE THEM OUT OF THE OVEN as they will be far too hot!

And voila! You have your very own homemade shortbread! Hopefully this was a simple recipe you could easily follow along with, with the help of the pictures. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next Sunday!

Ellen x