Shortbread-raspberry hearts

Classic vanilla shortbread

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Serves 20

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• 450 g (3½ c + 1 t) cake flour
• 150 g (1 c) icing sugar
• 150 g (1 c) corn starch
• 500 g butter, cubed
• 10 ml (2 t) vanilla
• caster sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160 ° C. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.

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1 Sift the flour, icing sugar and corn flour together.

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2 Place in the bowl of a food processor and add the butter cubes one by one. Mix at low speed until a soft to smooth dough. Add the vanilla essence and mix.

3 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

4 Press the dough firmly into the pan and prick with a fork. Leave to rest for another 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

5 Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into fingers 2½ cm x 7 cm, while the dough is still warm. Let the cookies cool completely before it is decorated

6 Sprinkle with castor sugar and served with a cup of tea.

More ideas

Malt and chocolate shortbread balls

1 Replace ½ cup flour with ½ cup by malt (Horlicks).

2 Roll 1 x 200 g chocolate balls (Whispers) in the shortbread dough. Do not make it thick.

3 Place on a baking sheet and bake as described.

4 Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Raspberry hearts

1 Roll out one mixture of the shortbread dough on a clean, lightly floured work surface and cut out circles in pairs.

2 Place the circles on the baking sheet and press out a heart  shape out of one of the pair. Lift out the extra dough carefully. Bake as directed.

3 Place the cooled cookie pairs on a cooling  and spoon 1 t (5 ml) raspberry jam in the centre of each circle cookie and put a heart cookie carefully on top.

4 Press lightly so that the jam fills the whole heart and dust with icing sugar.

5 Let the cookies cool for another hour to allow the jam to melt into the hearts.

Shortbread fingers

1 Roughly chop 80 g glazed ginger and 100 g dark chocolate.

2 Mix with the dough just before you put it in the refrigerator.

3 Press the dough firmly into the pan and bake as directed.