My daughter and I love baking together – I haven’t quite perfected the concept in her head about “clearing up after yourself” though! So when I found these fabulous cookie cutters from Sass and Belle I knew we would have fun. We actually have 3 of them, the Home Made, With Love and Happy Birthday ones but I think we have to get the Eat Me one too and at such a reasonable price, well it would be folly not to 😉
We’ve used them to make up shortbread, that old favourite, yet one which seems to have so many variations that I end up forgetting how simple it actually is to make. So here goes with my basic recipe – feel free to “embellish” in any way you like (but don’t forget to let us know about it!).
- 125g/4oz butter
- 55g/2oz caster sugar
- 180g/6oz plain flour
1. Put the oven on at 190c/375f/Gas mark 5.
2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until it’s smooth and creamy and turns a paler colour.
3. Stir in the flour – a bit at a time or if you have really strong arms, go for it all in one – and mix til you have a smooth paste. Add any additional things – choc chips, currants, fudge chunks.
4. Turn your paste out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to about 1cm thickness.
5. Using your cutters, press down on the outer ring, to form the shape, then use the top stamp to imprint your message. Or use any cutters you have in the drawer or just cut into fingers* Sprinkle with icing sugar and chill for 20 mins.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they’ve gone a light golden brown colour. Cool on a wire rack and then see how long you can get them to last! It isn’t usually very long in my house!!
Mary x
* I used the phrase “cut into fingers” this refers to cutting the shortbread, not your fingers! 😉
photo credit: tuli nishimura via photo pin cc
