Buttery Scottish Shortbread
photo by Patchwork Dragon
- Ready In:
- 1hr 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 5
- Yields:
-
9 shortbreads
- Serves:
- 3-4
ingredients
- 175 g butter (must be at room temperature)
- 75 g caster sugar, plus extra
- caster sugar, for dusting
- 175 g plain flour, sifted
- 75 g fine semolina
directions
- Pre-heat oven to gas mark 2/300°F/150°C.
- Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- First of all, beat the butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon to soften it.
- Beat in the sugar, followed by the sifted flour and semolina.
- Work the ingredients together with the spoon, pressing them to the side of the bowl, then finish off with your hands until you have a smooth mixture that doesn't leave any bits in the bowl.
- Divide the mixture into 9, and shape each portion into a ball (dust the work surface with flour if you find the mixture too sticky to work with).
- Flatten each one slightly and prick the centre with a fork (but not all the way through).
- To make it look pretty, make a 1 cm crinkly border on the top by lightly pressing a fork making a slight indent working all the way around (working for the edge towards the centre).
- Make sure that the biscuits are at least 1/2 inch in thickness (with the indentations at the edges).
- Place onto the prepared baking sheet, very well spaced out as they will spread out quite a bit during baking.
- Bake them for 50-60 minutes on the centre shelf of the oven (keep an eye on it after 45 mins - the edges seem to colour more easily than the top) – it should have turned pale gold and feel firm in the centre.
- Remove from the oven and dust the top with caster sugar.
- Leave it to cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p style=margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;><span style=font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;><img src=file:///Users/aishayusaf/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.png alt= /><img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/bill3.jpg alt= width=402 height=507 /></span></p>
<p><img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/Untitled-11.jpg alt= /><br />Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. <br />It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. <br />- H. Jackson Brown, Jr. <img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/images.jpg alt= /> <br /> <img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/Untitled-11.jpg alt= /> <br /> <br />For a hobby, I'm into photography. I thoroughly enjoy baking, but have to admit, I have two left hands when it comes to decorating cakes! I also do a bit of knitting (beginner's stage) and reading. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are my all time favourite authors, and, of course, LOVE Calvin and Hobbes (does it show??!!) <br /> <br /> <img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/chch-atheist.gif alt= /> <br /> <br /> <img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/Untitled-1-1.jpg alt= /></p>
<p>I search for recipes that carry ingredients I can get hold of locally (or I have stocked in my cupboard!). Recipes I have posted are ALL tried and tested and have been enjoyed by all! So, I hope you and your family will enjoy as well! <br /> <br />My rating system is fairly simple. Since I only pick recipes that I know my family will enjoy (looking at the list of ingredients), it's either 5 or 4 stars, I do not go any lower. I may sometimes do a bit of tweaking but that is only due to my family's tastes. If I do have problems with a recipe or if it didn't turn out the way it should have done, then I just leave a comment without any rating. <br /> <br /><img src=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/aaliyahsmum_album/Untitled-12.jpg alt= /></p>