12 Bakes of Christmas 2017: Shortbread

Every year, it becomes easier to find vegan snacks at Christmas – you can even buy vegan advent calendars in supermarkets now! But we still like to bake some things ourselves, and one thing my mum and I bake every Christmas is shortbread. Ridiculously simple and incredibly tasty, they don’t seem to last long in our house… 

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Makes: depends entirely on the cutters you use! We made about 20.

Ingredients

300g plain flour
200g Alpro Soya spread
100g caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 160’C

2. Line a tray with greaseproof paper – or grease with butter, but I prefer using the paper.

3. Cream the spread and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. It should look a bit like mashed potato!

4. Sift the flour into the bowl.

5. Mix with your hands until it forms a dough.

6. Wrap in clingfilm and let it chill in a fridge for 20 minutes.

7. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 1 cm, and cut out your shapes! Tip: make sure to flour your cutters before cutting out the dough.

8. Place your shapes on your prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. If you want them a little sweeter, sprinkle caster sugar over the top of them before baking.

9. Leave to chill on a tray for 20 minutes after cooking.

10. Hide in a tin somewhere to prevent them all from being eaten in a day.

Enjoy!