Spiced Valentine's Shortbread

Rose and Cardamom

• 200g roti atta or plain flour
• 50g brown sugar or caster sugar
• 130g melted ghee or butter
• 1½ tsp rose water
• pinch of dried rose petals
• 4-5 cardamom pods, opened and seeds crushed

Cinnamon and Chilli Chocolate

• 200g atta or plain flour
• 50g sugar
• 125g salted butter
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• 20g chilli chocolate

Method

Rose and Cardamom

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Mix the flour and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
3. Rub in the ghee with a spoon to get a crumb and add your crushed cardamom seeds, rose water and rose petals.
4. Empty the crumb onto a tray and pat down to form a soft dough about 1cm deep. Try not to knead it as you want it to stay as short as possible.
5. Get a baking sheet ready lined with baking parchment.
6. Using your heart shaped cutter, press down and cut out your heart. These are very delicate so you may need a spatula to lift the heart shapes out of the dough. Cut out as many as you can get depending on your cutter size.
7. Pat down the remaining dough again and cut out more heart shapes – keep going until you have used up all the dough.
8. Place the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.
9. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want it to darken too much.
10. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Cinnamon and Chilli Chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Add the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl.
3. Rub in the butter with your fingers to get a crumb.
4. Empty the crumb onto a tray and pat down to form a soft dough about 1cm deep. Try not to knead it as you want it to stay as short as possible.
5. Get a baking sheet ready lined with baking parchment.
6. Using your heart shaped cutter, press down and cut out your heart. These are very delicate so you may need a spatula to lift the heart shapes out of the dough. Cut out as many as you can get depending on your cutter size.
7. Pat down the remaining dough again and cut out more heart shapes – keep going until you have used up all the dough.
8. Grate the chocolate on to the hearts to cover them.
9. Place the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.
10. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want them to darken too much
11. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Served with

The perfect accompaniment to a sweet cup of chai but they also make the best gifts too!