Basic Shortbread

Merry Christmas. With only five ingredients, your preparation for this shortbread is half done. No long recipes here. I did get distracted by one of the ingredients, though – Rice Flour. I had never baked with this before, but luckily found a bag in Sainsburys (in their gluten-free section). As this recipe only uses 60 grams, God knows what I'm gonna do with the rest of it! Any ideas? Answers on a postcard please. (or in the comments box below  :-)

Basic Shortbread

130g/4½oz butter, softened

60g/2½oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

130g/4½oz plain flour

60g/2½oz rice flour

pinch of salt

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the plain flour, rice flour and salt, and stir well until the mixture is smooth and uniform. (I find it easiest to keep pressing the mixture against the side of the bowl to mix it.)

Bring the mixture together and press into a 20cm/8in loose-bottomed cake tin, smoothing it with the back of a spoon. Crimp the edges by pressing with the tips of two fingers, then score into eight pieces with a knife and prick each triangle three times with a fork. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Remove the shortbread from the fridge and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.

Remove the shortbread from the oven and sprinkle over some caster sugar. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before removing it from the tin and cooling on a wire rack.




Adapted from Lorraine Pascale | Baking Made Easy