Shortbread biscuits go back as far as the twelfth century, but at that point were much more bread-like because they used leavening agents. It was not until the the leavening agents were replaced with butter that they became the popular crumbly treat that they are today.
Although there are not many things I would like to say that I have in common with Mary Queen of Scots, her love of shortbread biscuits is one of them. It is in fact rumoured that she is responsible for the name petticoat tails. Unlike the most commonly finger finger shaped shorbread, petticoat tails are named as such because they resemble the shape of women's petticoats. Based on the brands I used, each biscuit is about 94 calories.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 18 servings
Ingredients
200g wholemeal plain flour
150g margarine (or butter if you prefer)
50g cornflour
40g golden icing sugar
1 tsp Truvia sweetener (or granulated sugar if you prefer)
1 orange
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 ༠C/ 160 ༠C fan/350 ༠F/4 Gas.
Cream the margarine/butter with icing sugar.
Zest and juice the orange.
Mix the orange zest with the wholemeal flour and cornflour.
Beat the flour into the creamed margarine.
Add a tablespoon of orange juice to form the dough, and divide it into two balls.
Place a dough ball into the centre of a sandwich tin, and press it down. Using your fists, knead it into the edges of the tin. Repeat this with the second dough ball in another sandwich tin.
Use a round cookie cutter to make a circular biscuit in each tin.
Cut eight 'petticoats' around each circular biscuit.
Pattern the biscuits using a cocktail stick.
Bake in the oven, the sprinkle with sweetener/sugar.
Categories
#Shortbread
#Biscuits