I want to make star & xmas tree shortbread biscuits to give as xmas pressies in little organza bags but I'm missing one vital ingredient.....a good recipe!  I've looked online & found a few but I don't think there is any better recipe than one from someone whose been there & done that!  I'm very very new to this baking so need very detailed instructions e.g. how do you beat butter & sugar? do you need some kind of food processor or blender?  I've been to Wilkos & bought some cutters & can pop into Sainsbury's on the way home as I'd like to do a dry run before I dish them out as gifts!! Please help!!

Sorry for all those who don't want to do Xmas until Dec for bringing it up again!!! :)

Shortbread is lovely and very easy to make.  You can make the whole thing by hand but do make sure your butter is at room temperature (softened in winter temps!!) before starting, otherwise you'll be giving yourself a much harder task.  Buy butter, plain flour, ground rice and caster sugar.  If you want it I can post my, v easy, recipe.  Just be aware that shortbread doesn't keep as long as some other biscuits and if made properly is very crumbly so may not stay whole after wrapping.

Another great christmas biscuit is the german style spice or pepper type.  This is a thinner biscuit so less mix goes much further and it can also be iced and decorated to be hung on the tree.  I can't find my basic recipe, but I have a Nigella one that looks similar.  You'll need plain flour, baking powder, mixed ground spice, freshly ground back pepper, unsalted butter, muscovado sugar, eggs and runny honey.  Icing sugar, bits to decorate and ribbons for hanging.  Leave out the pepper if you hate that idea!  This recipe will be easier with a food processor as it has a liquid ingredient but any recipe can be made by hand with a good mixing bowl and a bit of elbow grease :)

Let me know and I can post either, or both

Can you either post or pm me them both please!

Sounds delicious.  Please can I have the recipes too.  I love biscuits lol

Can I have them too please Hun??? I tried a couple on a scottish cook book, but they just didn't seem right! ta muchly!

Shortbread - Petticoat Tails

4oz butter softened
2oz caster sugar, plus extra for dedging
5oz plain flour
2oz ground rice

1) In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy  2) Gradually stir in the flour and ground rice. Draw the mixture together and press into a 7" round sandwich tin 3) Prick well all over (with a fork) and pinch up the edges with a finger and thumb (if you want to!).  Mark into 8 triangles with a sharp knife.   Bake at 170c (325F) gas mark 3 for about 40 minutes until pale straw in colour.  4) Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, cut into 8 triangles, then dredge with caster sugar.  Remove from the tin when cold.

This recipe is an absolute doddle and my daughter (now 12) often makes this one unassisted.  She usually doubles the quantity though and cooks it in a larger rectangular tin that we have.

I'll post the other recipe a bit later!

Thank you.  Can't wait to make them.  Yummy :)

thats a really good idea for xmas gifts gemma! im going to copy off you now! :-D ha ha! hope yours go well :-)

Fab! However I have a few questions...

> 2oz ground rice
>

like the stuff you'd boil or is this special rice for baking? where will I find it in the supermarket?

> cream the butter

how do I do this? what instrument should I use?

Can I cut out shapes instead of putting it in a tin?

Sorry for all the probably obvious questions but I;m very very new to this baking lark & want to get it right!

The Delia gingerbread recipe is fantastic for ginger biscuits. Christmassy, very easy to deal with, copes well with the fiddliest of cutters and keeps well.

For a change, get cutters in varying sizes and cut a bit out of the middle. Crush some boiled sweets (Fox's glacier fruits type thing) and put them in the cut out section half way through baking for a stained glass effect.

M.

> where will I find it in the supermarket?
>

In the baking section. 

>how do I do this? what instrument should I use?

In a bowl and beat it with a wooden spoon until the colour goes pale.

Ground rice is, I think, semolina by another name.  You'll find it in the baking section, it's fully milled to a powder so looks like flour.  If you prefer you can make the shortbread with all flour but the GR makes the shortbread crunchier.

Cream the butter simply means stir/beat it to soften and add air.  If your butter is yellow to start you'll see it getting much paler as you work it.  the lighter and looser the better as it helps to combine the dry ingredients.  I use a wooden spoon to cream butter and sugar but change to a metal one to fold the other ingredients in - don't know why!

Yes you can roll out and cut shapes but it is better if cooked in a tin and not handled too much.  That's why other biscuit recipes may be more suitable for the sort of thing you're planning.

Shreswbury biscuits are very forgiving and the Delia ginger ones that somone mentioned.  Here is the Nigella recipe for Christmas Decorations

> Ground rice is, I think, semolina by another name.

I don't think so. Semolina is wheat, ground rice is....rice! :-D

Not Semolina :-)

My mothers shortbread recipe also calls for rice flour and it used to be very difficult to locate. The one sure place to find it would be an oriental/asian food shop. They are big on rice flour.
My own taste is for a softer shortbread, I'm not a crunch/crispy fan so I just use the ordinary flour. 

Oh yes I see - not Semolina, although I remember that's what my mum often called it when GR was cooked as a pudding.  I found this reference on the Rice Association page so I wonder if it tastes very similar when cooked.  We used to have it at school too and it was def preferable to Tapioca which was the other milky pudding they used to serve!

**Ground rice  - is rice that has been coarsely milled. This produces rice similar to semolina and is used in baking and puddings**

I'm just off to find out about Tapioca - perhaps I can serve this to my children... :)

Where do you get your ground rice from? Supermarkets?

As I said   "oriental/asian food shop"

Decent sized supermarkets will have it in the baking section.  Fail in that you could use baby rice which has the benefit of extra minerals and vitamins :-)

Thanks Isabel, I have a tesco, asda & sainsburys all within 2 miles so should be able to find some there.

Here's a nice shortbread recipe that doesn't use ground rice:

225g plain flour
75g caster sugar
150g butter
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 180C.  Sieve flour, sugar and salt into bowl and rub in butter until it is a firm dough.  Roll out to 15mm thick, cut into desired shapes.  Bake for 15-20 mins, then remove and sprinkle some caster sugar on each and leave to cool. 

Kids love this because it's so easy to make.

> im going to copy off you now

Kiger,Have you made any yet?  I've ordered some organza red xmas bags from e-bay & am planning a baking session after Nemo on Ice on Sunday! (Don't ask I'm being a good god mother!)

no havnt made any yet.think i will give it a go next week,ive got our engagement party tomorrow so im busy getting everything ready for that.:-)