Walkers Shortbread Mini Rounds, Traditional Pure Butter Scottish Recipe, 11g (Pack of 200)

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Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Line one or two baking trays with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and cream for about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed until pale and light. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through. Add in the vanilla extract and mix again.

Use this dough as the base for biscuits, to eat yourself, or to make as a Christmas gift Nutrition: Highlight If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment as that’s the best tool for creaming butter and sugar. Shortbread originated in Scotland. [1] [2] Although it was prepared during much of the 12th century, and probably benefited from cultural exchange with French pastry chefs during the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, [3] the refinement of shortbread is popularly credited to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. [4] Despite the enduring popular association, evidence for any connection between Mary and shortbread's origin is sparse. [5]Brown, Catherine (2015-04-01). "Shortbread". The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-931362-4. ...not all shortbread is made with white flour. On Orkney, where a tasty Neolithic barley known as "bere" is still grown and milled, bakers add a little of this flour to their shortbread. Others add rolled oats to provide more flavour and texture. Both work, it depends what you want to achieve. When using a biscuit cutter you always cut the dough before baking (and in this recipe the dough is cut into rectangles first), but there will always be a little spreading as the dough cooks. If the flour and butter look mixed together but there are loads of little clumps still, keep going. Gradually those little lumps will join to form bigger ones and suddenly the dough will be cleaning the sides of the bowl and forming into more of a raggedy mass (Image 3). At the start of mixing, it can look like the dough is too dry and will never come together. Be patient and keep the mixer going on low. The flour basically has to start to become coated with the moisture of the creamed butter and sugar. It can take a minute for this to happen. Dunked into hot chocolate on a chilly morning. Munched with after-dinner coffee. Served with rich, silky lemon posset for dessert. Buttery, home-made shortbread is always a good idea – and it’s satisfyingly simple to make.

Once all the rounds are on the baking tray, use the tines of a fork to pierce holes into the top. This stops it bubbling up as much. You can make any pattern! I adore really tasty cheese and so adore very tasty cheesy things, but most are pretty bland. Very disappointing - bought once and left for family to finish! have only found two that meet me desires and expectations!

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That said, shortbread is also incredible if you want to add things like homemade candied ginger, homemade candied citrus peels, dried cranberries, rosemary, and anything else your imagination inspires you to try. Another key is using caster sugar. Not regular granulated sugar. Not powdered sugar. Caster sugar is very fine granulated sugar. Caster sugar is commonly used in British baking and it’s an all-around smarter choice than granulated. The reason is that the sugar crystals in granulated sugar are much larger and take longer to dissolve during baking and may not dissolve completely. Caster sugar dissolves more rapidly leaving a finer texture to the baked good. The ginger is a great tasting ginger. It's not a namby pamby ginger, meaning it's hardly got any taste. This has taste in spades.