granny mac's shortbread

I was starting to enjoy the slightly cooler nights but alas, summer is not over and doing any baking can be a bit of a workout. On one of the cooler nights we've had, I did bake a batch of 'Granny Mac's Shortbread' from Bill Granger's 'Sydney Food'. If you are new to Bill Granger, well let me just say that his recipes are fantastic. I can easily pick up any one of his cookbooks and whip something up - the ingredients he lists and uses are commonly found in the pantry, which is how this batch of shortbread came about after I came home from work on a weeknight.

Sift 2 cups plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 cup caster sugar into a bowl. Add 125g softened butter (try let it soften at room temperature) and rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Mix in 1-2tbsp of cold water to form a dough. Add 1 lightly beaten egg and combine to form a stiff but workable dough.

Roll out the dough on a sheet of greaseproof paper to form a 20x30cm rectangle. I debated whether to put this in the fridge to let it harden up a little to make it easier to roll but decided against it fearing there would be cracks.

Spread 1/3 cup jam evenly over the dough and sprinkle with 2 tsp ground cinnamon.

Roll up the dough swiss roll style, peeling away the greaseproof paper as you go. At this point, I thought it might've been good to stick the dough in the fridge for a little while just to let it harden up slightly and make it less difficult to roll. Ah well, next time!

Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Remove dough from refrigerator and cut into 1cm slices. Place shortbreads on a lined baking tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool on wire racks.

When I saw the word shortbread, I was expecting this recipe to be quite buttery and 'short'. The final baked product was neither, it tasted more like a mini cake; not too sweet and actually quite light. J happily gobbled a handful of these with a cup of tea.

Next time I could probably roll these up a bit tighter and cut the slices thinner so that these don't turn out so big. For the first time ever, I made less portions than what the recipe said it would make. This recipe is meant to make 24 pieces of shortbread where I made the 21.