A spiced shortbread with crunchy pecan pieces in each bite.
- 115 g butter (plant based spread)
- 55 g sugar
- 155 g plain flour
- 2 tablespoons rice flour
- 30 g ground almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 20 g pecans chopped (plus extra for decoration)
-
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Stir the vanilla through.
-
Add the flours, ground almonds, spices and chopped pecans and gently mix to combine. As soon as you have a soft ball of dough, stop mixing.
-
Wrap the dough up and place in the fridge to chill for minimum 20 minutes. We have tested chilling the dough for up to five hours.
-
Unwrap the dough, roll out and cut into fingers or shapes. Place onto a lined tray leaving space between them. Press pecan pieces onto the top if desired.
-
Bake at Gas Mark 4 (350f / 180c) for 10-15 minutes (depending on thickness and size). They should just be changing colour when cooked.
-
Allow to cool on the tray for five minutes, before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. Note, the biscuits will be soft until cooled.
- Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
- Switch the spices to your taste - try ginger, cardamom, nutmeg.
- Change or add to the nuts - hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts.
- Try caramelising the nuts first by dry frying them in a pan with a spoonful of sugar. Allow to cool before adding to the shortbread.
- Make the shortbread thinner for a crisper biscuit, change the shapes or make one large biscuit and score before baking for easy snapping.