Shortbread shapes

I quite like shortbread and was reading something about the secret to 'short' shortbread. Apparently it comes from using lots of cornflour, so today's biscuit bakeoff recipe is for shortbread. This recipe is very basic and similar to surprise shortbread. I used the paddle attachment on my Kenwood mixer and creamed the butter and sugar until it was a pale yellow. I considered halving the ingredients and making a smaller batch but decided that I'd rather enjoy a full batch of shortbread with coffee on a cold wintery day than regret not making more!

Shortbread shapes

Ingredients

• 250 g butter, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup cornflour
• 2 cups flour

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Sift cornflour and flour together. Mix sifted ingredients into creamed mixture. Knead well.
3. On a lightly floured board, roll out to 0.5 cm thickness*. Shape into a circle or cut into pieces.
4. Place on a greased oven tray. Prick with a fork. Bake at 130°C for 30 minutes or until pale golden. Makes about 40.

Shortbread shapes

* I will take this opportunity to officially declare my non-stick rolling pin to be nothing more than a smooth ornament - there is certainly nothing 'non-stick' about it, as proven when taking almost as long to roll out enough dough to fill a tray of biscuits as it does to cook them. I'm considering replacing it with a piece of PVC pipe, which I hear on good authority works just as well (or, in my case, better) and costs less. Watch this space.