Stars and Christmas Trees

A special recipe from Lee-Anne, the baker in The Druie Cafe, for Christmas shortbread.

You can find many more of Lee-Anne’s fabulous cakes, biscuits and traybakes in the Druie open every day from 10 am – 4.00 pm.

Ingredients

16oz of Butter (soft)

8oz of Icing Sugar

16oz of Plain Flour

8oz of Corn Flour

Caster Sugar for sprinkling on the Shortbread

Essential Equipment

* Large Bowl/Silicone Spatula/Mixer

* Cookie Cutter (Any shape you wish)

* Rolling Pin

* Large Baking Tray and Grease Proof

Preheat your oven to 170°C/Fan 160°C.

Start by creaming together the sugar until light and fluffy. You can use either a large bowl and a rubber spatula or an electric stand mixer. That’s entirely up to you. The end result will be the same.

Once the mixture is nice and light, tip in both the flours and mix until a crumbly dough forms.

Next, tip the dough out onto your floured work surface and give it a little knead to bring it all together and make a ball. Roll out until the dough is roughly a cm thick!!

Cut out your desired shapes and pop them onto your lined baking tray. (I like to use stars and Christmas trees at this time of year). ?

Then re-roll any scraps back out to 1cm thick and repeat until all the dough is used up.

Next, we need to evenly space out those shortbread biscuits on the baking tray. Make sure you leave a little room between each one to allow for any spreading. (Although this should be minimal).

I like to chill mine in the fridge for 20 minutes or so before baking. This helps them keep a lovely shape.

Bake for 12-14 mins until golden around the edges. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on them in the last 5 mins though as all ovens vary! Once baked, sprinkle with Caster Sugar and allow the shortbread biscuits to harden on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the process until all the shortbread biscuits are baked.

And there you have it! CRAZILY addictive, buttery, short, crunchy, yet melt in the mouth shortbread. This is a shortbread recipe that you absolutely need in your life!

Enjoy!!

The Druie Cafe Festive Opening Times:
Christmas Eve – 09.30 – 4.00
Christmas Day – Closed
Boxing Day 12.00 – 4.00
New Year’s Eve 9.30 – 4.00
New Year’s Day 12.00 – 4.00