Shortbread cookies are ancient. They started in Scotland way back when cooking, compared to today’s standards, was crude at best. Of course they have evolved over time to what we know today.
The original shortbread cookie recipe probably included oat flour but when the English adopted it they substituted wheat flour. In Tudor England oats were considered animal food.
Traditional shortbread is baked in a round and then cut into wedges.
The story has it that the ancient Scots baked shortbread in the winter months and put cuts in the shortbread rounds to represent the suns rays. This was some sort of ritual to persuade the sun to return and do away with the cold winter.
The wintertime tradition holds on though because shortbread cookie recipes are among the most popular Christmas time cookie recipes.
The original shortbread cookie recipe probably included oat flour but when the English adopted it they substituted wheat flour. In Tudor England oats were considered animal food.
Traditional shortbread is baked in a round and then cut into wedges.
The story has it that the ancient Scots baked shortbread in the winter months and put cuts in the shortbread rounds to represent the suns rays. This was some sort of ritual to persuade the sun to return and do away with the cold winter.
The wintertime tradition holds on though because shortbread cookie recipes are among the most popular Christmas time cookie recipes.
Ingredients:
6oz Plain flour
4oz Soft butter
2oz caster (granulated) sugar
1 oz cornflour (cornstarch)
Method: Mix the butter and sugar together (preferably with a wooden spoon) until it is pale and creamy. Sieve both the flour and the cornflour into the bowl and mix well. Put a small amount of flour on your working surface and place the dough on this. Shake a little flour on top and roll out about quarter inch thick. Prick with a fork and cut into rounds with a cutter or, if you want one large shortbread round, pinch the edges with thumb and finger all round.
Use a palette knife to lift the shortbread onto an oiled baking tray and bake for 25 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 325F/170C/Gas Mark 3. If the biscuits are ready, they will be pale brown and crisp; if not, return to the oven for 5 or 10 minutes. Shake a small amount of caster/granulated sugar on the top of the shortbread immediately after they have been removed from the oven. Use a palette knife to move them to a cooling rack and store in an airtight tin once they are cold.
No comments:
Post a Comment