SWEET HEARTS

 

			Ingredients 250g unsalted butter 3/4 cup icing sugar mixture 2 tsp vanilla essence 1¾ cups plain flour ¾ cup rice flour Strawberry jam

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and line two trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and the icing sugar mixture until it’s pale and creamy, then add the vanilla essence.
3. Sift the plain flour and rice flour over the butter mixture and stir it until it forms a dough. It may look a little dry, but keep mixing.
4. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it’s smooth.
5. Roll out the dough until it is 1cm thick and cut out the biscuits with a large heart-shaped cookie cutter.
6. Cut out the centre of half the biscuits with a small heart-shaped cookie cutter.
7. Re-use any leftover dough and repeat the process.
8. Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the shortbread is light gold and firm to the touch. Be sure to swap the trays halfway through cooking.
9. Put them on cooling racks.
10. When the biscuits are cool, spread a teaspoon of strawberry jam on the top of each one, then put a biscuit with a ‘hole’ in it on top of the jam, so that the edges line up neatly. Keep going until all the biscuits are doubled up.

Store them in an airtight container.