Shortbread

No food sensation in this world is better than the combination of good shortbread and hot tea. At least that's how I feel about life. I like to sit down and relax in the afternoon around 3:30 with a hot cup of tea. I buy loose leaf tea from the British Tea Store and my favorite blends are Angel's Dream, Buckingham Palace Tea Party, and the French Blend. Dave's favorite tea is Yorkshire Gold. Good commercial shortbread can be pretty expensive. Walkers is my favorite. But shortbread is actually really simple and easy to make at home. There are only three ingredients and it just takes minutes to put together.

3/4 cup butter (I use half salted and half unsalted)
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup sugar

Blend together until smooth. Press into a square 9" x 9" baking pan. Bake at 350ºF until starting to brown around the edges (my oven took about 30 minutes, but it's a slow oven, so watch closely). Cool completely and slice.

For the shortbread in the photo, I scored the dough into squares as soon as I pulled it from the oven and used and pricked each square with a fork. Then I waited until it was cooled completely before removing it from the pan.

This recipe is found in many places on the internet and the credit can't be traced to one source. So I'll just call it a "traditional" recipe.