Shortbread hearts for your Valentine.

Valentines shortbread

I often make biscuits and bars for packed lunches. Sometimes it depends on what needs to be used up in the fruit bowl, (banana crumble bars) or it might be seasonal, (gingerbread stars). Yesterday I went for plain and simple shortbreads but jazzed them up by using a heart cutter and some red edible glitter, just in time for Valentines day. You could decorate them with your loved ones name, roll and cut fondant to fit the heart or drizzle them with chocolate. Why not leave them on your workmates desks to raise a smile. Crisp and buttery they call out to be eaten with a cup of tea or coffee.

My OH sent me a text this lunchtime to say how lovely the biscuit was. That made them worth the effort if nothing else.

Plain shortbread.

180g unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup of caster sugar

2 tsp warm milk

1 3/4 cups of plain flour

good pinch of salt.

Red edible glitter and more caster sugar for decoration.

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C

In the bowl , cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the  milk and beat again until combined.  Sift in  the flour and salt  to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed with a hand mixer or work with your hands until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and roll and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in cling film or pop into a ziploc bag and chill for 30 minutes. If you don’t have either squeeze the dough between two plates and chill that way.

Chilled dough

Roll the dough1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3-inch shaped cutter. Place the shapes on an ungreased  baking tray. Note: The edges of the shortbread are ever so slightly sharper if you chill the shortbreads before baking them. If you have time this is well worth the effort. 30 minutes chilling will do. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Roll the biscuits in caster sugar. Add a little red glitter to the sugar if you want the biscuits to sparkle too!

Waiting in a jar to be eaten!

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