Vanilla shortbread

Yes friends, its that time of year again, it’s officially cheap arse edible gift time, hooray! So why not spare some pennies and give the less important friends in your life, a disappointing edible gift for Christmas.
The beauty of the edible gift is that the receiver has to be grateful for your efforts, no matter how minimal or shit your gift is, it’s brilliant. They’ll obviously know you’re being cheap but hey, they’re not your important friends so who cares right? Frankly, they should be lucky to be getting a present at all.
Although be warned, if this is your second year of edible gifting, be prepared to receive some revengeful edible gifts in return for last years efforts (I can certainly sense a jar of disappointing onion chutney winging its way to me in the post.)
Anyway, this years edible gift is vanilla shortbread. It’s literally made from three ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard, sugar, flour and butter. I actually add a touch of salt and vanilla to mine to give it a bit of pizzazz but that’s it. Not only is it irresistibly short and crumbly but it’s melt in the mouth delicious, so you never know, perhaps you’ll be forgiven for being cheap for one more year.
But hey, if shortbread isn’t your bag, then why not try last years edible gift Salted Saltana & Rum Fudge.

Vanilla shortbread
Makes 1 round / Hands on time 25 mins / Total time 40 mins + cooling time / V
You’ll need: Baking paper, and a 10 inch loose bottomed flan tin
125g unsalted butter at room temperature + extra for greasing
50g golden caster sugar + plus extra for dusting
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
175g plain flour

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a loose based flan tin with baking paper and grease well with butter.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. You can do this with a wooden spoon or use a mixer. Once smooth and creamy add the of flour.
3. Mix until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Pour into the centre of the tin and spread out evenly. Press down with your finger tips until you have a firm biscuit like dough.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden. Leave to cool fully in the tin before sprinkling with 2 golden caster sugar. Carefully remove the shortbread from the tin and slice into pieces. The mixture will be very short and crumbly so don’t worry too much if some bits break off, it’s part of the charm. Enjoy with a cup of tea (obviously).

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.