Cranberry Shortbread Hearts

As it was our third wedding anniversary i was looking for something to represent cotton.I couldn't find anything then i had a brainwave.I decided to make some edible decorations that could be hung up on our christmas tree.The cotton bit would be represented by the cotton that i would thread through the biscuits and tie together so that i could hang them onto the tree.

 

Ingredients

60g cranberries.
225g butter.
100g caster sugar.
225g plain flour.
60g semolina.

Recipe

1.Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
2.Add your cranberries to a mixing bowl.
3.Add the butter to the mixing bowl.
4.Add the caster sugar to the mixing bowl.
5.Add the plain flour to the mixing bowl.
6.Add the semolina to the mixing bowl.
7.Using your fingers rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture comes together.
8.Lightly flour your work surface and knead your dough very gently until it becomes smooth.
9.Shape your dough into a ball then flatten it into a disc.Wrap in cling-film and place in your fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
10.Lightly dust your work surface with flour.
11.Roll out your dough to roughly 4mm thickness.
12.Using a heart shaped cutter stamp out your cookies and place on your lined baking trays.
13.Place your trays of cookies into your fridge and chill for 30 minutes.
14.Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees c/325 degrees f/gas mark 3.
15.Bake the cookies in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until pale golden brown.
16.Remove your cookies from the oven and sprinkle with caster sugar.
17.Transfer to wire racks to cool.

As ever they took longer to cook in my oven but they turned out lovely with a perfect shortbread crunch.When i tried to pierce a hole in one corner of the hearts they kept breaking so i just did a few to hang on the Christmas tree then put the rest in a fancy box.

 

The Monday Baker