Shortbread was one of the first things I learned to bake and it was at cookery club in year 3 of primary school. I made it so often that I had the recipe memorised at age 8 and would go around to people’s houses, ask if they wanted some shortbread and then proceed to waltz into their kitchen and make them some. Whilst I no longer invite myself to cook in other people’s kitchens, it is a recipe that I hold dear because it was the first, ya know?
Whilst I am away with work this week, a friend’s mum has kindly offered to put me up for a couple of nights and I wanted to make something to take with me, as a gesture of thanks. I was informed that shortbread and milk chocolate are favourites of hers and I set about combining the two.
I did alter my time tested recipe by adding vanilla bean paste, it is by no means necessary but does make for a delicious biscuit. I got to use my new fancy pants rolling pin too, never have I made such an even batch of biscuits!
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!
Ingredients:
- 180 g of plain flour
- 120 g of butter, at room temperature
- 60 g of caster sugar
- 0.25 tsp of salt
- 0.5 tsp of vanilla bean paste (optional)
- 150 g of milk/dark chocolate
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 150°C and line (or grease) two baking trays.
- If using vanilla, weigh the sugar out into a small bowl and rub the vanilla paste into the sugar with your fingers, set aside.
- Chop the butter up in to chunks.
- Weigh out your flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the butter to the flour and rub between your fingers until you have a crumb like consistency.
- Add the (vanilla)sugar and mix with your hands until evenly distributed.
- Squeeze the mixture together to form a dough.
- Flour your work surface and rolling pin and then roll out your dough until ~6 mm thick.
- Cut out your biscuits and place them on the baking trays.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until they begin to colour.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Melt the chocolate (broken into chunks) in a glass bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.
- Re-line your baking trays and then dip the biscuits into the chocolate and place on the trays.
- Place the trays in the fridge to set, once you’ve dipped all your biscuits (for about 10-15 minutes).
- Eat and enjoy!
You’re more than welcome to come and waltz into my kitchen and make some of these!
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