Lazy shortbread (Baking)

Member Name: chezza99

Product:	Baking
Date:	21/04/09 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and easy

Disadvantages: You need to have the ingredients handy (or some biscuits, of course!)

The recipe I'm sharing with you here is one for the midnight munchies, or any other time when you desperately need biscuits but forgot to buy any. It's not the best shortbread method, but it is reliable and (more importantly) takes less than half an hour. It's easy to clean up after.

I'll include a few variations - once you've got the hang of it, make up your own. Gluten-free also included below.

* Recipe

The basic recipe for shortbread is as follows:
1 of butter; 1 of sugar; 2 of flour.

For a thin, 6-inch round (6-8 biscuits) you will need:
2oz butter; 2oz sugar; 4oz flour.

Multiply the ingredients, keeping the same proportions, to make more shortbread. The weights don't have to be perfectly accurate, which is handy if you've had a few drinks!

* Implements

You need: a saucepan, a baking tray, a wooden spoon and a fork.

*Method:

1. Turn on the oven to about 200 (or three-quarters of the way up).

2. Put the butter in the pan over a medium heat. Chuck in the sugar. Stir it around until it's all melted. Try not to let it boil - if it does, try not to let it burn.

3. Chuck in the flour. Stir it around until all the ingredients have blended. It will form a paste that you can push into a ball: it doesn't stick to the pan (I told you it was easy to clean up!)

4. Rub some butter over your baking tray. Plop your dollop of paste onto the tray, and use the flat of the spoon to squash it out until the dough is fairly flat and reaches the edges. If it's cool enough, you can do this with your knuckles.

5. Make little holes all over it with the fork. Put it in the oven. It should take 20 minutes to go golden on top. If you can't wait that long, never mind! The dough's already cooked so it won't give you stomach ache, but your biscuits will fall apart.

6. Let it cool on the baking tray. Make cutting marks with a knife, if you want it to break easily into slices. After you've lifted the shortbread off, put the tray in cold water. That will make it a doddle to wash :)


* Gluten-free

Replace 1 tsp. of the flour with Xanthan gum (for 4oz flour; multiply as needed). The shortbread needs to cook a bit longer with gluten-free flour, also I find it helps to add a little more butter in the pan.


* Variations

1. Almond shortbread: Replace a quarter of the flour with ground almonds. Even better if you add a drop of almond essence.

2. Toffee shortbread: Use molasses or dark muscovado sugar. Sprinkle some more on top of the dough before you bake it.

3. Coconut shortbread: Replace a quarter of the flour with dessicated coconut, sprinkle some more on top.

4. Chocolate shortbread: Replace a quarter of the flour with cocoa.

Enjoy!

* Incidentally, the proper way to make shortbread is to rub the flour, sugar and butter together with your fingertips. This gives you a better texture, but takes longer.

Summary: Who has time to do it the proper way??