Christmas is coming and is there anything better than some sweet delicious shortbread? Make trees, stars, gingerbread men, doves ... the shapes are endless for this time of the year and most delicious with some icing and Christmas cheer on top!
Ingredients: Makes 16+
- 250g Butter
- 3/4 x Cup Of Icing Sugar
- 2 x Cups Of Flour
- 1/4 Teaspoon Of Vanilla Essence
Method:
1. Cream your butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence together in a bowl with an electric mixer. Once done mix through your flour until it becomes a dough.
2. Prepare a oven tray with baking paper. If you have 2 then do them both or use a cutting board for excess cookies that wont fit on the tray as you will need to put all your cookies in the fridge before cooking in step 4.
3. Flour your bench, rolling pin and hands. Place the dough on the bench. It will be very sticky so make sure you have floured your hands. Make into a ball and then roll out to around 1-2cm thickness. Cut out your cookies with your choice of cookie cutters.
4. Place cookies on your trays (or use a cutting board if you need). Use a tooth pick to prick a few small holes in each. This helps them not bubble in the oven. Then place in your fridge for 45 minutes. This step is important as it helps cookies hold their shape. Preheat your oven 180c for the next step.
5. Take from the fridge and place in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Edges should be a slight gold in colour. Be careful not to overcook as it is easy to do so!
6. Remove from oven and keep on tray for at least 5 minutes before you place each on a cooling tray.
Once cooled serve with a sprinkle of icing sugar sifted on top or as I have done here iced in fun designs for Christmas!
Tip: These can be well prepared ahead and frozen. To do so you will need to blind freeze at the step when you would put into your fridge. Once frozen you can put them together in ziplock bags/sealed containers. They should not stick too much together then. To cook just take out when needed, put straight on a tray and into your oven to bake.