Preparation time: 10 minutes.
Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes.
3 oz plain flour
2 oz fat (butter or margarine)
1 oz castor sugar
pinch of salt
1. Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and rub together well with hands until mixture forms a pastry or dough-like consistency.
2. Dust a chopping board or other work surface lightly with flour.
3. Turn out the dough mixture onto the floured surface and knead well with hands until all sticks together.
4. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out pastry and cut out biscuits using a biscuit cutter.
5. Scoop up any left over pastry and roll out again to make more biscuits. Repeat this procedure until you have a very small amount of pastry left, which you can form into a shape of your choice.
6. Put biscuits onto a floured baking tray and cook in a medium oven for 25-30 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and tap lightly with a fork or skewer. Biscuits are cooked when they are a nice golden brown in colour and the top feels firm to the touch.
8. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Variations: If liked, add dried fruit, candied peel, chocolate chips ETC to the shortbread mixture, and/or when cooked, decorate with icing sugar, dried fruit, nuts ETC.