4.1/5 rating (15 votes)

Spiced Valentine's Shortbread

Nankhatai

  • Heat None
  • Serves 12
  • Dietary Info VEGETARIAN
  • Prep 5 mins
  • Cook 20 mins

These homemade spiced shortbread biscuits are a lovely way to say I Love You!

Hari says

I have always loved shortcakes. My Uncle Terry made the best shortcakes ever - they were buttery, creamy and crumbly. They were halfway between a cake and biscuit and he would turn up with a tin full of these squares, each one perfectly pricked with four holes from a fork. They didn't last long and I am so sad that I never got the recipe from him. 

Shortbread or shortcakes as I like to call them are very simple to make. Just mix flour, butter and sugar, and pat down into a tray and bake. You can jazz them up as they can be flavoured with practically anything, plus they make an awesome gift.

I have been playing around to give you a couple of ideas. I have used atta (Indian wholeflour that is used for roti) because I always have loads of it. You can just use a plan flour if you prefer. Whichever variation you choose, these are great to treat your loved ones with. 

  • Ingredients
  • Method

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!

Useful equipment

Go to the shop

This goes well with

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Comments

Comments (2)

  • Joann Cuellar

    20 February 2020 at 03:06 |
    I'm excited about trying these yummy recipes.
    Thank you for sharing.

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      26 March 2020 at 19:35 |
      Enjoy!

      reply

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