With the festive season coming up soon, the recipe for these delicious shortbread stars will definitely come in handy.
Shortbread is one biscuit which we adore a lot; well, probably most of you do too. But, since the scales tell a different and not so pleasant story, we do try to repel it as much as we can. However, once in a while we do gorge on these beauties. Whenever they are made, the family seems to hover over the biscuit tin more often; well, to be honest, I, too can hardly keep away from them. The sweet buttery taste and crumbly texture of these beauties are indeed very hard to resist. In fact it is because of this crumbly texture (which is again due to it’s high fat content) that they are so named.
Shortbread trivia-
Shortbread is generally associated with Scotland. They are usually made with just three ingredients – flour, butter and sugar. These biscuits are traditionally shaped in any of the following three ways… one large circle, which is divided into segments as soon as it is taken out of the oven (“petticoat tails”); individual round biscuits (“shortbread rounds”); or a thick (¾” or 2 cm) rectangular slab cut into “fingers.” They are also patterned by pricking them with a fork before baking. They have a pale golden appearance as opposed to a golden brown one; this is due to the relatively low temperatures at which they are baked.
These are rich cookies, but enjoying them once in a while is fine, I guess! This is one of my old and trusted recipes. Somehow, I thought that I had already posted this recipe; but seems like I haven’t! So sharing it now so that you can save it for when you would like a little indulgence. And you definitely don’t need to wait for a special time of the year to enjoy them!
Recipe notes-
- I had made these shortbread stars during Christmas one year, so the star shape was in keeping with the festivities.
- I did use the traditional ingredients of flour, butter and sugar, but I also added a fourth- a little semolina; it’s a personal preference and I love the slight bite that it adds to these biscuits.
- This is an old recipe and I missed noting the number of biscuits the given quantity of ingredients makes. So please proceed at your discretion.
- If it is quite warm when you are trying this recipe, you might find the dough a bit difficult to handle and roll out. In such cases, flatten the dough slightly into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for a few minutes until it is easier to handle.
Continue reading for the full recipe for these shortbread stars!
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Shortbread stars
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain flour
- 200 gms butter
- 6-7 tbsp caster sugar and a little more for sprinkling on top
- 3½ tbsp semolina
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven at 130 deg C.
- Place the flour and semolina in a bowl and mix well.
- Cut the butter (at room temperature) into the flour and rub together to resemble fine crumbs.
- Add the sugar and bring together the mixture into a ball.
- Place the ball on a work surface and knead till smooth.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 3-4 mm thickness. (see notes below)
- At this stage, cut out the stars (or rounds) with a cookie cutter.
- Bring together the trimmings, roll out again and repeat till the entire mixture has been used up.
- Prick them all over with a fork.
- Place them on an ungreased baking tray and bake in the centre of the pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes or till cooked; or till very, very slightly golden around the edges( it will still be a little soft at this stage).
- Sprinkle the cookies with some caster sugar while still warm and leave the biscuits on the tray for a few minutes.
- Carefully transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before storing in air tight containers.
Notes
- I had made these during Christmas one year, so made them star shaped in keeping with the festivities.
- I did use the traditional ingredients of flour, butter and sugar, but I also added a fourth- a little semolina; it’s a personal preference and I love the slight bite that it adds to these biscuits.
- This is an old recipe and I missed noting the number of biscuits the given quantity makes. So please proceed at your discretion.
- If it is quite warm when you are trying this recipe, you might find the dough a bit difficult to handle and roll out. In such cases, flatten the dough slightly into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for a few minutes until it is easier to handle.
You might also like to try the following recipes from this website-
Until next time,
Sunita
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