Saturday morning, the last remnants of snow are still lingering in the garden and my eldest son has decided he wants to make some shortbread biscuits all on his own. What a great start to the weekend, we all love shortbread biscuits, especially the dog. A nice big mug of coffee and a warm biscuit sound good to me. It also makes me nostalgic of when I used to bake with my dad as a kid so I was up for a quick bit of baking.
Shortbread biscuits are very easy to make so perfect for the kids to get stuck into.
I took on my standard role of “commis chef”, more commonly known as gofer and washer upper. My son pulled out his usual go to shortbread recipe and decided to add some vanilla essence. Good call in my opinion.
After directing me to get everything he needed out of the cupboards, he set about making the biscuits (and of course a mess). Anything on the floor becomes the dog’s job to clean up. Which he does with relish.
We had also recently bought a cookie letter stamp set, so we thought it a good idea to brand his biscuits with his name as a final flourish.
Once the cookies had been cut and stamped and left in the fridge to firm up my son disappeared, more stealthy than a ninja, back to the Xbox and to leave me to clear up the aftermath. That’s my boy, I used to do that to my dad but back in the day it would have been a Gameboy.
Once baked, the “Hillery” baking judges, Ethan (7), Ann my wife, Chester the Cockerpoo and Oliver all dug in. The verdict must have been good, as by the time I had made a cup of coffee they were nearly gone. Oh well, maybe next weekend I will get a look in.
Makes: 8 (7 cm) cookies
Oven Temp: Gas 5, 375F, 190C (170C Fan)
Ingredients
125g butter (room temperature)
55g caster sugar, plus extra to finish
180g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C (170C Fan)
- Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Stir in the flour and mix together to bring all the ingredients together. Try not to overwork. Turn on to a lightly floured work surface and gently roll out to about 1 cm thick.
- Cut out with a cookie cutter and place onto a baking tray. Roll together any spare dough and repeat.
- Sprinkle with caster sugar and place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to chill the dough. This will help prevent spreading.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until pale golden-brown.
- Let cool for a couple of minutes on the baking tray. Then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Ingredients
- 125g butter (room temperature)
- 55g caster sugar, plus extra to finish
- 180g plain flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C (170C Fan)
- Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Stir in the flour and mix together to bring all the ingredients together. Try not to overwork. Turn on to a lightly floured work surface and gently roll out to about 1 cm thick.
- Cut out with a cookie cutter and place onto a baking tray. Roll together any spare dough and repeat.
- Sprinkle with caster sugar and place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to chill the dough. This will help prevent spreading.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until pale golden-brown.
- Let cool for a couple of minutes on the baking tray. Then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Oven Temp: Gas 5, 375F, 190C (170C Fan)
