Valentines Shortbread

These shortbread biscuits are wonderfully easy to make and taste fantastic. I made larger cookie sized ones and some mini bite-size ones as well. The little ones would be super cute in a little bag with a bow as a gift for Mother's Day or for a bestie while I thought the bigger ones were perfect for a Valentines Day gift. Depending on your handwriting, you could even pipe a name on the top, my hands are way too shakey unfortunately. These could also be made in any shape and with any colour of icing dependent on the occasion. I also added a touch of edible glitter being a sucker for anything sparkly.

Ingredients:
For the Shortbread:
60g caster sugar
150g butter
200g plain flour

For the Icing:
400g icing sugar
1 tbsp red food colouring
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp water

Method:

Lightly dust a baking tray with flour and set to one side. Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy and soft then fold in the flour to create a soft dough. I usually use a food processor and the dough comes together nice and quickly. Sprinkle a generous helping of flour over your counter and roll out the dough to approx half a cm thick. Take your cutter and cut out your biscuits, carefully laying them on the baking tray. Take the leftover dough and knead it back together before repeating the rolling and cutting process until all the  dough is used.

Pop the baking tray in the fridge to set the biscuits for at least half an hour. Preheat your oven to 160 fan and pop the biscuits in straight from the fridge. Bake for between 15-20 minutes until golden brown then place on a wire rack to cool.

In a bowl, mix together the icing sugar, vanilla extract and food colouring, adding more colour to reach your desired shade. Add water until a thick but slightly runny paste is formed. Make sure the biscuits are completely cool before icing them.  I used an icing bag to pipe the icing on but it could easily be spooned on if you don't have any. I always pop a couple of sheets of kitchen roll under the cooling racks when icing things to save time clearing up drips after.  Once the icing is set, dust with edible glitter and decorate however you fancy.

These super cute shortbread biscuits are sure to bring a smile to anyone's face and when their baked with love they taste even better.

When you make these please tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife. Enjoy!