Shortbread

Published on dessert

Ingredients

  • 240 g butter at room temperature
  • 120 g sugar
  • 360 g flour
  • 1 pod vanilla, seeds scraped out
  • 0.5 tsp flaky sea salt
  • 2 tbsp loose Early Grey leaves, crushed optional

Instructions

  1. Cream the butter, sugar and crushed Earl Grey leaves together.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients — flour, vanilla seeds, sea salt — and mix until everything forms a ball of dough. It might take a while.
  3. Once it has formed, turn the dough out onto the work surface. Divide into two pieces and shape each one into a rectangular log.
  4. Optional: mix the sumac and sugar on the work surface. Roll the log in the sumac-sugar to coat it all over.
  5. Place the logs in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour (or freeze it until you want to bake).
  6. Heat your oven to 190 °C (or 170 °C with fan). Line two baking trays with baking paper. Use a sharp knife to cut each log into 14–20 slices of less than 0.5–1 cm each.
  7. Bake for 10–15 minutes until light golden, then remove from the oven. Be careful, as the shortbreads will still be very soft and crumbly.
  8. Leave to cool on the tray before eating.

Adapted from this original recipe