Cinnamon Spiral Shortbread Biscuits
Last week I went on an annual festive pilgrimage with my family to Fortnum and Masons for afternoon tea and to gawp at all the amazing decorations and lights. We’ve been doing it for a few years now and it has become the official commencement of all things festive. It was amazing as always and if you ever have a chance to go to Fortnum and Masons I am sure you won’t be disappointed - gazing at all the amazing hampers is thrilling in itself!
Even though festive thoughts have begun...I feel that I still have a foot in Autumn and still crave all the warm spice flavours that it brings. So I am heading back to my trusty spice ‘catnip’ , cinnamon and I have made some sweet little biscuits to enjoy.
Making them is simple, you just need to allow 30 minutes in the fridge for them to firm up before the baking commences.
Cinnamon Swirl Shortbread Biscuits
320g plain flour
120g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large free ranged egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp jam, strawberry/raspberry
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting
Sift flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl.
Cut the butter into 1cm cubes and place into the flour mixture. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour (rubbing between your finger tips) until you have a fine breadcrumb texture.
Add 2 tablespoons of cold water and mix in to help it start to come together as a dough.
Add the egg and mix again until all the breadcrumbs come together to create a soft dough.
Tip the ball of dough out onto a sheet of baking paper and roll to a rectangle 20cm x 30cm. Cut the excess dough away to give straight edges to the rectangle.
Spread the jam across the surface, all the way to the edges, in a thin layer and finally sprinkle the ground cinnamon across the jammy surface.
Starting from the shorter edge, roll the biscuits dough up to create a swiss roll style log, use the baking paper to help roll the dough over itself.
Transfer to the fridge and leave for 30 minutes to cool and firm up. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180ºC and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Once the 30 minutes is up, unwrap the dough and trim off the edges to make neat ends. Slice the dough into 1cm slices/discs, you should be see the pretty jam spiral curling around in the centre of each slice.
Lay the slices, 4cm apart on the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet before adding a final flourish or sieved icing sugar over the tops.
Who knows if next week I will still be feeling autumnal or whether Fortnum and Masons will have caught up with me and I’ll be feeling festive - either way, pop back next Friday for more yumminess!
