salted shortbread biscuits with cardamom, orange and white chocolate

a recipe

sometimes i think shortbread are a little underrated. i associate them with the complimentary biscuits you get given in plastic packets at blood donation clinics or conference rooms. this recipe brings them back to life with floral, zesty, sweet and salty flavours. the white chocolate caramelises as the biscuits bake and the sea salt flakes across the top sit nicely with the sweetness.

ingredients
130g unsalted butter (soft, room temperature)
60g golden caster sugar
180g plain flour
100g white chocolate (chips or chopped pieces)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 heaped tsp sea salt flakes (plus more for sprinkling across the top)
1/4 heaped tsp ground cardamom
zest of half an orange

method
1. weigh the sugar in a large bowl and zest the orange across the sugar. use your hands to rub the zest into the sugar. this gets the most out of beautiful aromatic scents and flavours from the orange.
2. add the butter to the bowl and cream together with the sugar using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or electric mixer until the mix is light and fluffy. add the vanilla extract and cardamom and mix through.
3. sieve the flour into the bowl and stir through with the salt and white chocolate. take care not to overwork the dough. once it has come together use your hands to shape the dough into a rough disc shape.
4. lightly flour your worktop and roll the dough out to 1/2 cm thick. use a cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies. place the cookies onto the prepared baking tray. bring together any scraps of dough, re-roll and stamp out more cookies. repeat until the dough is used up. prick the top of the cookies once with the tines of a fork.
5. place the cookies in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes. whilst they are chilling pre-heat the oven to 150c (fan).
6. bake the biscuits for 12-14 minutes or until just golden around the edges. remove from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack.

notes
this recipe makes around 10-12 biscuits, depending on how accurate your 1/2 cm roll is. you can also shape them in anyway you desire, just make sure they are 1/2 cm thick.
i haven’t tried or tested it but if you’d prefer to use milk or dark chocolate they could work nicely instead of white chocolate.