These delicate wee shortbread cookies bring your garden into your baking. Snip the stem of the pansies as close to the base of the flower as possible, then wash them and dry them completely on a tea towel before use.
Ingredients
For the pansy shortbread
- 1½ cups flour
- ½ cup cornflour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 225g butter
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg — beaten with 1 teaspoon cold water
- Pansy flowers, to garnish
- Caster sugar, to sprinkle
Method
For the pansy shortbread
- Whisk the flour, cornflour and salt in a medium bowl.
- Beat the butter until fairly smooth. Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat again for about 30 seconds.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating just until all the flour is incorporated.
- Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and flatten out slightly. Wrap up in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour
- Remove from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
- Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 6mm.
- Use round or fluted cutters to cut out the cookies. Arrange on the prepared trays.
- Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- When nearly ready to cook, preheat the oven to 210°C (190°C fan bake).
- Bake the cookies for 12–14 minutes or until they are starting to turn a lightly golden colour.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the trays for 10 minutes. Leave the oven turned on while they cool.
- Working with one cookie at a time, brush the top with the egg wash then gently push a pansy into the centre. Sprinkle with sugar.
- Return the cookies to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes.