Guestpost: Shortbread by Alison Wickham

by Alison Wickham

1/2 lb butter (I use the regular kind. Butter needs to sit at room temperature for a while to be soft enough- not oily though.)
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 and 1/2 ounces cornflour
10 ounces of plain flour  (it should not contain any raising agent, so check the bag)
1/4 teaspoon salt




Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy and then add in remaining ingredients.
Mix well.  You may need to knead the dough to get it to stick together into a thick non-sticky lump.
Turn out onto a long strip of greaseproof paper. Using the paper to help, shape into a long rectangular log about 2 inches by 1 inch and cut with a sharp knife into 40 pieces (about 1/4 inch deep).
 Alternatively roll out 1/4 inch thick between sheets of cling film, or on a silicone sheet,  and cut into small shapes with fancy cutters (check cooking time after 15 mins if you choose to do this).
Place on a greased oven tray. As these cookies have no eggs or raising agents they spread only a small amount.

Source: Original recipe from New Zealand Anchor or Fernleaf butter wrapper circa 1970.

I used to make these in the early 2000’s for the Clonakilty Market and Inchydoney Hotel.

Bake in a cool oven (160 C) for approximately 20 minutes until golden. They should not be brown, but a pale creamy – gold colour, but crisp right through the centre when cool. (They brown up more after they are removed, so be careful.)
Cool on a wire rack.

Part of a tray about to go into the oven.