Cookies are the perfect gift at any time of year and you can make shortbread cookies very easily. Basic shortbread requires only three ingredients: butter, sugar and flour. You can make the cookies in a cake tin, roll the dough into a fat sausage and cut thick slices, or use cookie cutters to make shapes.
When the cookies have cooled completely, a few hours after baking, put them in a tin or wrap them with cellophane or other attractive paper tied with a ribbon. Home baked cookies like these are a very welcome gift.
Here's an easy shortbread recipe to get you started.
Shortbread
250 gm butter at room temperature
125 gm caster sugar (also called superfine sugar)
375 gm flour
Lightly grease a baking tray.
Chop the butter into cubes the size of your thumbnail and place in a large bowl.
Add the sugar to the butter and start beating them together using a wooden spoon. If the butter is too cold to cream easily, place the bowl in the oven or microwave briefly but take great care not to melt the butter.
Keep beating until the mixture is pale and fluffy and there are no more lumps of butter.
Sift the flour into the creamed mixture and stir until all the flour is incorporated.
Knead the dough briefly so that it's a smooth ball.
Gently roll the dough into a fat sausage 5 cm in diameter, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile turn your oven to 150 degrees C.
Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap it and place it on a clean surface.
Slice off round cookies about 1 cm thick and place them on the baking tray making sure they are not touching each other.
Prick the cookies once or twice with a fork for decoration if you like.
Put the baking tray in the oven about 2/3 of the way up. This will lessen the risk of the bottoms of the cookies browning before they are cooked.
Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes, checking them after 20 minutes. They should become crisp and the colour of the dough should darken slightly without actually browning.
Working out when they are done is a process of trial and error. There is no harm done by opening the oven door briefly to check on them.
Cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the baking tray, then carefully remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
So that's the story of how to make shortbread. There are many variations on this theme, so after you've mastered the basics you can try other recipes with extra ingredients like spices, fruit, nuts and cheese. Your family and friends will love you for it!
When the cookies have cooled completely, a few hours after baking, put them in a tin or wrap them with cellophane or other attractive paper tied with a ribbon. Home baked cookies like these are a very welcome gift.
Here's an easy shortbread recipe to get you started.
Shortbread
250 gm butter at room temperature
125 gm caster sugar (also called superfine sugar)
375 gm flour
Lightly grease a baking tray.
Chop the butter into cubes the size of your thumbnail and place in a large bowl.
Add the sugar to the butter and start beating them together using a wooden spoon. If the butter is too cold to cream easily, place the bowl in the oven or microwave briefly but take great care not to melt the butter.
Keep beating until the mixture is pale and fluffy and there are no more lumps of butter.
Sift the flour into the creamed mixture and stir until all the flour is incorporated.
Knead the dough briefly so that it's a smooth ball.
Gently roll the dough into a fat sausage 5 cm in diameter, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile turn your oven to 150 degrees C.
Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap it and place it on a clean surface.
Slice off round cookies about 1 cm thick and place them on the baking tray making sure they are not touching each other.
Prick the cookies once or twice with a fork for decoration if you like.
Put the baking tray in the oven about 2/3 of the way up. This will lessen the risk of the bottoms of the cookies browning before they are cooked.
Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes, checking them after 20 minutes. They should become crisp and the colour of the dough should darken slightly without actually browning.
Working out when they are done is a process of trial and error. There is no harm done by opening the oven door briefly to check on them.
Cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the baking tray, then carefully remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
So that's the story of how to make shortbread. There are many variations on this theme, so after you've mastered the basics you can try other recipes with extra ingredients like spices, fruit, nuts and cheese. Your family and friends will love you for it!
Suzanne Middleton is a New Zealand cook and writer. You can find her recipes for shortbread and other easy baking at http://www.makeshortbread.com/.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzanne_Middleton 
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