Valentine Vanilla Shortbread with white chocolate drizzle
Buttery and crumbly, Scottish Shortbread is traditionally made with one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour. Some recipes replace some of the flour with either cornflour or Semolina. For this recipe I used cornflour as it gives a nice smooth crumbly texture. Semolina, on the other hand gives a more noticeable grainy bite to the texture while being equally as crumbly and buttery. It’s all a matter of personal taste.
Bringing the dough together
Once you’ve mixed the dough, don’t over work it as you could make it tough once baked. As you start to press it down with your fingers and then with the back of a spoon, it gets easier to spread the dough evenly in the prepared cake tin. I would also suggest that you always line the cake tin with greaseproof paper or parchment as it makes it so much easier to turn the cooked shortbread out of the tin. This is regardless of whether you cut them into individual shapes or not.
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 35
- Yield: 12 heart shapes of various sizes.
- Category: Biscuits and Cookies
- Method: Baking
Ingredients
- 225g (8oz) plain flour
- 75g (2.75oz) cornflour
- 200g (7oz) butter, softened
- 100g (3.5oz) golden caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Topping
- 50g (2oz) White chocolate ( you can also use milk or plain)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170Cdeg fan/325F Grease and line a 26cm(10ins) x 16.5cm (6.5ins) baking tin with baking parchment.
- Sieve together the cornflour and flour in a separate bowl. This will ensure an even distribution. Leave to one side.
- Using an electric mixer with a paddle beater, mix together the butter and sugar until well combined. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go along.
- Add the Vanilla Extract. Mix until well combined.
- Add the combined flours. On a low speed, mix until you have a crumbly dough.
- Using your hands bring it all together, in the bowl. If the dough is too soft to handle. Wrap in some cling film and leave in the fridge for approx. 30 mins until the dough firms up.
- Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking tin.
- Bake for 30 – 35 mins or until baked but not too golden looking.
- Remove from the oven. While still warm, using a variety of Heart shaped cutters, cut out as many heart shaped biscuits as you can. When done, lift the greaseproof paper and all the shortbread shapes and odd pieces, out of the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once completely cooled separate the individual shapes. If you do this too early, while the shortbread is still warm they may crumble and break.
- Melt the white chocolate separately in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle, or pipe (using a piping bag) over each of the shortbreads.
Notes
To cut the shortbread into individual finger slices, do this with a knife while the shortbread is still warm in the tin. Dust with caster sugar as an alternative to white chocolate.
Will keep for a few days in an airtight container.
Left over bits can be crushed and used to decorate a buttercream topping on a cake. Or scatter abundantly over icecream