This is a very easy recipe which will take around 15 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes for chilling and just over an hour to bake. It’s a rich crumbly buttery biscuit to dip into your tea. You can make patterns by spiking holes into it; I tried for a snowflake effect.
The basic shortbread is adapted from a new baking book called What to bake and how to bake it by Jane Hornby.
Christmas Spiced Shortbread Recipe
Needs a 23cm tart tin (I used a 20cm plus a 10cm so I had two, one bigger, one smaller)
225g salted butter
100g caster sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla paste
280g plain flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Zest of 2 satsumas
A pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp all spice
1 tsp ground ginger
For dusting:
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g caster sugar
Butter the tart tin.
Cream the butter, add the sugar, the salt and vanilla paste. Then add the flour, the cinnamon, the zest, cloves, nutmeg, all spice and ginger.
Press the dough into the tart tin and smooth over the top with back of a spoon. Then cut it into slices and prick out a pretty pattern (I used the end of my digital thermometer).
Preheat the oven to 160ºc (320f).
Chill for 20 minutes, then put it in the oven to bake for an hour and ten minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin on a rack for ten minutes while repricking the pattern (which will have closed up slightly) and delineating the slices again.
In a small bowl mix the cinnamon and sugar together, dust it over the shortbread.
Serve warm or cold.
Lovely with a cup of tea or coffee for when you are snackish between the Christmas feasting.
This looks gorgeous, Kerstin. I can just imagine a wedge of this in a bowl of ice cream, or as you say with a cuppa in between feasting. Do you think this could be made in advance or would it go stale easily? Happy Christmas x
It will definitely last at least a week without going stale Sophie x
Just catching up on some posts I missed over Christmas time. Due to workmen in the kitchen AGAIN this Christmas cutting holes in walls etc I didn't get to make my lovely things for pre-Christmas and over-Christmas eating. Shortbread was something that was missed, but I see no reason not to make it now and I love the Christmas spices you have included in this shortbread, mine is normally plain. This cool weekend could be a time for baking!
Hi Magnolia, I think this recipe is good anytime! x