Delicious freshly baked shortbreads ready to eat in 20 minutes.

This recipe is oh so simple, but also delicious. I keep a stash in my freezer and they are just the thing for when you fancy a sweet treat with your afternoon tea.

I always make a double batch so I can freeze them, all you do is cut them out then place them on a lined tray and straight into the freezer. Once frozen transfer to a freezer bag. When you are in need, just pop them straight from the freezer onto a lined baking tray and into the oven at 180°C for 14 minutes.

You can go wild with the fillings, just make sure they are dry, wet filling will disrupt the texture. Some of my other favoruite pairings are white chocolate & crystalised ginger, almond & cardamom and cinammon and mixed spice which are perfect for Christmas.

These make a fantastic edible gift, they are really simple to make with little people. If you want to jazz them up you can finish them off with melted chocolate drizzled on top or dipped in on one side.

Shaping my shortbread dough

Ingredients

• 100g Plain Flour
• 100g Soft Butter
• 50g Corn Flour
• 50g Sugar
• 50g Chocolate
• 1 Orange (zest)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C or 375°F (Gas Mark 4), and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. If using a chocolate bar then dice up into small 'pea' size pieces. If you are using chocolate chips, no chopping required.
4. Add the soft butter and rub into the flour, squash it inbetween your hands to break up the butter, then bring it together to form a ball.
5. Zest in the orange and mix in the chocolate chips.
6. On a floured surface, tip out the dough and with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out until it is 2cm thick.
7. Take a cutter and dust it in flour, then cut out a shortbread and place on the tray, repeat this process dusting the cutter each time before cutting.
8. Bring the left over dough together dusting off any excess flour and roll out again until you have used all the dough. Make sure you keep the same thickness with each roll.
9. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
10. Once out of the oven sprinkle liberally with caster sugar and leave to cool on the tray