Dilemma #1

- Such an easy theme but it really stumped me as I cook a lot with noodles and rice and really wanted to do something a little different.

I spent days searching through my cookbooks for some inspiration when I finally heard the words “rice flour” whispered in my ear. Yay! I found my ‘something a little different’.

Dilemma #2

– What to make with rice flour?

I again couldn’t find anything I wanted to spend time cooking that included rice flour, but then I remembered that traditionally this little biscuit was made with rice flour (to give a crumbly texture), however overtime the rice flour seems to have been replaced with cornflour (which gives a more smooth ‘melt in the mouth’ texture).

Answer

– Substitute cornflour with rice flour. Problem solved!

Shortbread Biscuits

Cookbook: Bills Food  Author: Bill Granger

40g icing sugar, sifted | 250g unsalted butter, softened | 1 tsp vanilla extract | 60g cornflour (I used rice flour instead) | 185g plain flour | a pinch of salt | 80g raspberry jam | icing sugar for dusting

1. Beat sugar and butter together in a bowl until just combines. Add the vanilla, sifted flours and salt and mix until a dough forms. Mould into a log (6cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 7mm slices then cut shapes. Re roll the excess dough and repeat the process until all the dough is used up.
3. Place the biscuits on greased and lined baking trays and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Spread half of the biscuits with jam, top with the remaining biscuits and sprinkle with icing sugar.

A really simple batter to put together, although I found that as it held so much butter, I had to work really quickly in cutting out the shapes as it would start to soften and melt in my hands.

Once cooked, I found the little biscuits lost a bit of their shape (I think they probably should have been placed back in the fridge again to firm up – then straight into the oven).

Overall they were delicious! Light and crumbly and very, very buttery.

Probably not the best biscuit to transport anywhere as they're very fragile, but then by the time I finished taste testing there wasn't that many left to take anywhere - whoops!

For a quick look at my fellow challengers dishes, click here

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