For neatness, we’ve shaped our shortbread fingers by pressing the dough into a loaf tin. If you like a sweeter finish, use milk chocolate instead of dark.
We heartily recommend you make these easy shortbreads for guests over Christmas time! If you're a fan of white or blonde chocolate, then you can of course use this instead of dark.
Finely grated zest 1 clementine, plus 11/2tbsp juice
150g
dark chocolate, see intro
Directions
Step 1Line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment, making sure it comes up a little over the edges. Using a pestle and mortar, bash open the cardamom pods.
Pick out the seeds and finely grind
(discard husks). Add the ground
cardamom to a food processor along
with the butter, sugar and flour.
Step 2Pulse until the mixture just starts to
clump together. Add the polenta and
clementine zest and juice and briefl y
pulse to combine. Tip into the prepared
tin and press to level with the back of a
spoon. Chill for at least 1hr (up to 24hr).
Step 3Using the baking parchment, carefully
lift the shortbread dough on to a board
and slice into 16 short fingers. Transfer
to a large baking sheet lined with baking
parchment, spacing slightly apart. Chill
for 30min, to firm up.
Step 4Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan)
mark 4. Bake the shortbread fingers for
15-18min, or until golden and tops feel firm.
Leave to cool completely on the sheet.
Step 5Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl
set over a pan of barely simmering water.
Dip the end of each shortbread fi nger
into the chocolate, gently shaking o
excess. Lay back on the sheet and
leave to set (chill briefly, if needed).
Set aside remaining chocolate.
Step 6Remelt the chocolate as before.
Pipe or drizzle the melted chocolate
over the set chocolate-dipped ends.
Leave to set again before serving.
TO STORE
Once set, store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to a week.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
