SHREWSBURY BISCUITS
These childhood favourites make ideal Christmas gifts. They look charming packaged up with a jar of jam, ready to be sandwiched together by the lucky recipient.
Ingredients
150g butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
Grated zest of 1 orange or 1 lemon
1¾ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 jar of your favourite jam or sweet preserve (we used Pickle & Pie's boysenberry and Augustine’s apricot jam).
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, or 160°C fan bake. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, egg, and orange zest and beat well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix together to form a dough.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 4mm thickness. Use a round cutter to cut individual biscuits, re-shaping and re-rolling the offcuts as you go. In half the biscuits, use small shaped cutters to make a hole in the centre.
Transfer the biscuits to your lined baking trays and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning the tray around halfway through baking. When cool, sandwich with a teaspoon of jam.