Thursday, December 8, 2011

Shortbread Christmas tree


I used a cookie tree making kit from Kmart to put this together. It had 5 different sized Star cookie cutters and a dowel and a base and a hole cutter in the box.

The shortbread recipe from the side of the McKenzies rice flour box is nice and firm and it holds its shape when cooked, here it is.

Traditional Shortbread Recipe

225g plain flour
115g rice flour
115g caster sugar
225g butter (at room temperature)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cut up the butter into slices, put into a medium sized mixing bowl. Sift the flours over the butter, add the caster sugar and the vanilla essence.

Rub the butter into the sugar and flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and pliable. Form into a

Cut the dough in half. roll each portion out to a depth of approx 10 - 12mm. Use shape cutters to cut out the desired shape. Place carefully on a cookie sheet leaving room for expansion. Prick patterns into the dough with a fork if desired.

Bake for 20 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the shape, in a cool oven, 155-160 degrees for fan forced, slightly warmer for conventional ovens. Cool on trays fro 5-10 mins them move to a wire cooling rack. Store when completely at room temperature.