Ingredients
Method
- Place the sifted Flour, Almond Meal and Icing Sugar in the bowl of your food processor (see note 1 if making by hands) and pulse to combine and remove any lumps.
- Add the very cold Butter cut into small cubes and process until you get fine crumbs.
- Add the Egg Yolk and Almond Essence and process until the dough starts to come together (see note 2).
- Place the shortbread dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll it to a 4mm - 1/6 inch thickness (see note 3). Place over a flat tray and leave in the fridge to rest and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven on 160'C/320'F and line a large baking tray or cookie tray with baking paper.
- Cut out the cookies with your choice of cookie cutter and place them on the baking tray (see note 4).
- Bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool down on the baking tray for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack (see note 5).
- Re-roll and chill any leftover dough and repeat the process until all the cookie dough has been baked. Leave plain or decorate as you want.
Nutrition
Notes
Using cold butter is crucial for achieving a crumbly texture in shortbread cookies. This technique prevents the butter from melting too quickly during mixing, which helps maintain the structure of the cookies and ensures they have the desired melt-in-your-mouth quality once baked.