Sugared Shortbread Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Pat into a 1/3-in.-thick rectangle measuring 11 in. x 8 in. , Cut into 2-in. x 1-in. strips. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. , Bake at 300° for 25 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar and salt. Stir in the butter. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with sugar while warm and slice; cool completely.

Steps:

• In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cornstarch and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Roll dough into a 15x2x1-in. rectangle; chill. , Preheat oven to 325°. Cut into 1/4-in. slices; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add 3-3/4 cups flour; mix well. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead for 5 minutes, adding enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Roll to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut into 3x1-in. strips. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with fork. Bake until cookies are lightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Cool.

Steps:

• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or generously spray with non stick spray.
• Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add slowly to butter mixture on low speed. Do not overbeat! Only mix until flour is incorporated.
• Form dough into big ball and place in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter or you can use a pizza cutter and make squares or rectangles. Another option is to roll into a log and cut 1/4 inch thick slices.
• Using a spatula, transfer to cookie sheets leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies.
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack.
• When cookies are cool, whisk together the icing ingredients and either dip the cookies or spread on cookies. You can smooth the icing with the back of a spoon.
• These are so good -- you should really double the recipe!

Steps:

• Remove the stalks and any leaves from small flowers like violas or pansies, and carefully pull apart the roses to separate the petals. Place a sheet of baking parchment on your work surface. Sprinkle the caster sugar over a saucer, then lightly whisk the egg white in a small bowl. Holding a flower or petal with tweezers, use a small paintbrush to paint both sides with egg white. Spoon the sugar over, then shake off the excess and place on the parchment. Repeat with the remaining petals or flowers. Leave to dry for 3 hrs, or overnight if you can. Will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 month, but their colour may start to fade after a few weeks.
• Tip the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a damp, crumby texture. Pour in the sugar and gently mix in with your fingertips. Whisk the vanilla, rosewater and egg yolks together in a small bowl with a fork, then drizzle the mixture over the buttery flour. Mix again, squashing the crumbs together to form a dough. If the mixture is a little crumbly, drizzle over 1-2 tsp cold water, then mix again. Tip onto your work surface and knead very briefly until the dough looks even, with no streaks of egg. Wrap in cling film, pat into a round disc and chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line two large baking trays with baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge - if it's very firm, leave it at room temperature for 15 mins to soften. Lightly dust the work surface with flour, unwrap the dough and roll it to the thickness of a £1 coin. Stamp out 8cm disks with the fluted side of a biscuit cutter and transfer them to the baking trays. Bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through cooking. Once lightly golden and firm, remove the biscuits from the oven. Leave to cool on the trays for 10 mins or until stable enough to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick icing. Divide the icing between as many bowls as the number of colours you'd like to use, and dye each one a pastel shade with a drop of food colouring. Transfer half of one of the icings to a disposable piping bag fitted with a fine writing nozzle. Pipe a ring around the outside of the biscuit and set aside to dry. Continue until you've iced a third of the biscuits (if you're using three colours), then move on to the next colour, transferring any leftover icing back to its original bowl. Leave the biscuits to dry for 10-15 mins.
• Add 2-3 tsp water to each icing to make it a little runnier. Spoon the icing onto the biscuits, matching the colour to the rings. Encourage the icing to flood the surface by easing it to the edges with your spoon - don't be too generous with the icing as it may overspill when you add the flowers and petals. You can now dust the surface of each biscuit with a little shimmer dust, if you like, then top with the flowers. Leave the biscuits to set for at least 1 hr before wrapping in tissue paper in a pretty box. Will keep for up to 1 week.