Spiced Valentine's Shortbread
Nankhatai
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Heat
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Serves
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Dietary Info
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Prep 5 mins
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Cook 20 mins
These homemade spiced shortbread biscuits are a lovely way to say I Love You!
Hari says
I have always loved shortcakes. My Uncle Terry made the best shortcakes ever - they were buttery, creamy and crumbly. They were halfway between a cake and biscuit and he would turn up with a tin full of these squares, each one perfectly pricked with four holes from a fork. They didn't last long and I am so sad that I never got the recipe from him.
Shortbread or shortcakes as I like to call them are very simple to make. Just mix flour, butter and sugar, and pat down into a tray and bake. You can jazz them up as they can be flavoured with practically anything, plus they make an awesome gift.
I have been playing around to give you a couple of ideas. I have used atta (Indian wholeflour that is used for roti) because I always have loads of it. You can just use a plan flour if you prefer. Whichever variation you choose, these are great to treat your loved ones with.
- Ingredients
- Method
Rose and Cardamom
- 200g roti atta or plain flour
- 50g brown sugar or caster sugar
- 130g melted ghee or butter
- 1½ tsp rose water
- pinch of dried rose petals
- 4-5 cardamom pods, opened and seeds crushed
Cinnamon and Chilli Chocolate
- 200g atta or plain flour
- 50g sugar
- 125g salted butter
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- 20g chilli chocolate
Method
Rose and Cardamom
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- Mix the flour and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
- Rub in the ghee with a spoon to get a crumb and add your crushed cardamom seeds, rose water and rose petals.
- Empty the crumb onto a tray and pat down to form a soft dough about 1cm deep. Try not to knead it as you want it to stay as short as possible.
- Get a baking sheet ready lined with baking parchment.
- Using your heart shaped cutter, press down and cut out your heart. These are very delicate so you may need a spatula to lift the heart shapes out of the dough. Cut out as many as you can get depending on your cutter size.
- Pat down the remaining dough again and cut out more heart shapes – keep going until you have used up all the dough.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.
- Keep an eye on it as you don’t want it to darken too much.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Cinnamon and Chilli Chocolate
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- Add the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl.
- Rub in the butter with your fingers to get a crumb.
- Empty the crumb onto a tray and pat down to form a soft dough about 1cm deep. Try not to knead it as you want it to stay as short as possible.
- Get a baking sheet ready lined with baking parchment.
- Using your heart shaped cutter, press down and cut out your heart. These are very delicate so you may need a spatula to lift the heart shapes out of the dough. Cut out as many as you can get depending on your cutter size.
- Pat down the remaining dough again and cut out more heart shapes – keep going until you have used up all the dough.
- Grate the chocolate on to the hearts to cover them.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.
- Keep an eye on it as you don’t want them to darken too much
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Served with
The perfect accompaniment to a sweet cup of chai but they also make the best gifts too!
Joann Cuellar
Thank you for sharing.
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