Vanilla Shortbread Recipe

Great British Bake Off Week Two - Biscuits

So it is no secret that I am in love with Great British Bake Off! This year I have decided to do a little bake-along each week, inspired by whatever theme the weeks programming is.

Week two was biscuits and I decided to create some vanilla shortbread. In truth, the only biscuits I generally make are cookies, so I was quite excited to try these, especially as they are a favourite of the Mr! They were surprisingly easy to make and went down a treat.

These were fantastic, (even if I do say so myself) so it seems only fair for me to share the original recipe (from my favourite baking book!) along with my tweaks so you can try them yourself :)

Ingredients

225 grams

butter

125 grams

caster sugar

225 grams

plain flour

125 grams

ground rice (or rice flour) - I used a gluten free flour mix I had in the cupboard

1 tea spoon vanilla extract

1 pinch

salt

golden sugar for coating

Instructions

1. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy, then add the vanilla extract stirring well

2. Sift the flour, ground rice and salt together onto the creamed mixture and stir in, using a wooden spoon until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. I tend to do this gently to try to keep mixture really light.

3. Gather the dough together with your hand and turn onto a clean worksurface. Knead lightly until it forms a ball, then lightly roll/shape into a sausage about 2 inches (5 cm) thick. Do all this a gently as you can.

4. Wrap in cling film and chill in fridge for at least a couple of hours

5. unwrap the roll and slice into discs, about 1/3-1/2 inch (7-10 mm) thick.

6. Roll the edge of each biscuit in golden sugar.

7. Place the biscuits on two baking sheets lined with greaseproof paper ... spread them out a bit as they will expand.

8. Bake at 190C (375F) for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness, until very pale golden.

9. On removing from the oven sprinkle with caster sugar. Leave on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If put in an air tight container, these will keep for just over a week :)

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