Disclaimer: In December 2019, I was commissioned to develop a variety of recipes for Dairy Australia. This is one of them, featuring the use of butter. Styling and photography by me. Both the recipe and the photo is now property of Dairy Australia, however I was given permission to publish them on my website. © Dairy Australia. All rights reserved.
I’m a bit of cookie monster. But it has to be a good one, right? But what’s a good cookie? Opinions may differ here, but I personally believe that a good butter gets you half way there. And plenty of it too. And for me, shortbread is just the hero of a buttery cookie.
They say it’s easy to make shortbread, after all it’s just butter, sugar and flour, but a little technique is still required to make sure your cookies are not rock hard and tasteless.
A few tips
- Work fast! If you overwork the dough, it quickly becomes tough.
- Handle the dough with your hands as little as possible. You want to keep the dough as cool as possible.
- Chill the dough for at least an hour before baking it. The butter being cold and solid at the start of the baking process means your shortbread won’t spread as much, and the butter will be evenly spread throughout the cookie.
- If you want the classic shortbread look, prick the dough half way through the baking process, not at the start. That way the little holes won’t grow together.
Now for some exotic flavours, you can pretty much mix in anything you fancy. I decided to go with a bit of matcha powder and finely chopped pistachios. A bit of double green action! How much matcha powder you add depends how much you like the flavour. I tried it with 3 teaspoons and for me it was just a little overpowering. But I’m sure some of you would love it. So there is definitely a little room for creative freedom.
On a side note… I developed this recipe during the Australian summer heat and many an hour was wasted trying to temper white chocolate while it was 40C in the room. If it’s hot where you are, save yourself from frustration and use compound chocolate to dip the pieces in.
Matcha and pistachio shortbread
Ingredients
- 125 g unsalted butter softened
- 70 g icing sugar
- 130 g plain flour
- 20 g corn flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons matcha powder
- pinch of salt
- 40 g raw pistachios shelled
- 80 g white chocolate
- matcha powder to decorate
Instructions
- Grease and line a 22cm round baking tin.
- Finely chop the pistachios. Cream butter with icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flours, salt and matcha powder over the butter and sugar mix, then add chopped pistachios. Cut with a knife until the ingredients just come together.
- Press into the prepared baking tin and smoothen the surface with a small rolling pin or glass. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan forced). Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven. Cut into 16 even wedges. Insert a small, oven proof, round cookie cutter into the middle and leave in place. Prick each wedge a few times, then place it back into the oven and bake for another 15 minutes until the shortbread is cooked through but not browned. Cool on a wire rack.
- Once the shortbread has cooled to room temperature, melt the chocolate. Dip the skinny end of the shortbread into the chocolate and sprinkle with matcha powder to decorate. Cool in the fridge for 15 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.
- Tip: Work quickly. An overworked dough will cause the shortbread to be chewy and tough instead of light and tender.
