Irish Butter Shortbread

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups plain flour, plus more for work surface

Method:
Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Prepare your baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Set these aside until needed.

If you have an electric mixer with paddle attachments, this would work best. However, you can also use a large bowl and hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar tofether. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour in small amounts. Continue to add the flour and mix the dough until it forms a ball.

Lightly flour the work surface and move the dough to it. Roll the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. If the dough begins to stick to the rolling pin, dust it with flour. Cut shortbread out using a 5cm round scalloped or fluted cookie cutter. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet placed at least 3cm apart. Be careful to avoid overworking the dough, but you will want to gather the scraps and repeat until all of the dough is used.

Bake the shortbread for about 30 minutes or until they just begin to turn golden brown. Move the cookies to wire cooling racks and allow them to cool completely. If the shortbread isn’t eaten right away, you may store it in an airtight container for up to three days.