Shortbread Cookies

When I was little my Mum made these cookies, I used to love helping her press the dough using the cookie press! I also enjoyed choosing different shapes of the cookie press disks, two of them looked like flowers, one was a Christmas tree, another like an ornament,  and there were 2 more that I never liked!

You will need a cookie press to make these cookies. In the picture above is my Mum's cookie press that comes with a variety of disks to make various shapes, we had it when I was little so I think she bought it about 25+ years ago. Still works perfectly fine!

These cookies are very easy to make, all you have to do is mix the few ingredients very well, insert the dough into the cookie press and start making loads of the little cookies!

For the centre of the cookie, you can add whatever you like! I used M&M's and Chocolate chips... But you can also add Jelly or Jam or simply colourful sprinkles.
If you try this recipe out, let me know how that goes, don't be a stranger!

Keep in mind that once baked, cookies get a little bit bigger, so leaving about 2cm gap between them would be a good idea.

A friend of mine asked for the recipe and made some snowflake shaped cookies. I thought that was a great idea for Christmas goodies. Sadly I don't own a snowflake disk, but next time I see one I will definitely buy it.

These simple, crisp, fragile, and buttery tasting cookies are great to have with your morning coffee or afternoon tea. 

Shortbread cookies Recipe

(Serves: approx. 50 cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• M&M's or chocolate chip cookies or jam

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220°.
2. In a bowl mix all ingredients together.
3. Take a handful of dough and roll it in the palm of your hands so it looks like a snake. Fill cookie press with dough.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Press down cookie handle and dough will come out. One you have pressed enough dough lift the cookie press up and you will see the cookie.
5. Add M&M's or chocolate chips to the centre of the cookie and press it down. Or to add jam, put a little jam on the tip of the knife and put the jam in the centre of the cookie.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies become slightly browning. Let cool for 20 minutes and enjoy!