Recipe for Honey and Rosemary Shortbread

Everyone knows that there is delicious, melt-in-the-mouth shortbread, and then there’s disappointing shortbread. The terrifying thing is, they’re difficult to tell apart from sight alone. In my opinion, the cheap mass-produced kind is the most likely to induce feelings of sadness, and the homemade variety is most likely to inspire a comforting, sweet rush of joy.

With this in mind, I’ve spent years trialling shortbread recipes of my own, and this Honey and Rosemary Shortbread recipe is one of my all-time favourites. Rosemary beautifully complements the honey. Its distinctive aromatic smell and flavour gives the buttery biscuit a pleasing, flowery depth.  

It was a real pleasure to make the recipe with the delicious, locally produced Merry May Honey – find my recipe below.

Ingredients

·        90g softened good quality salted butter

·        100g honey

·        35g caster sugar

·        100g plain flour

·        70g cornflour

·        1 sprig of rosemary very finely chopped

·        icing sugar for dusting

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Method

1.      Heat oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan)

2.      Cream the butter, honey, rosemary and sugar together, mixing well for 5 minutes

3.      Fold in both flours gently, being careful not to overmix. Then wrap the dough in cling film, and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes

4.      Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface and cut into biscuits – prick the biscuits to stop them rising

5.      Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown

6.      Leave to cool then enjoy!

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