This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

Ingredients

170 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

125 g Butter (chopped & cold)

40 g Dates (chopped)

1 tsp Golden syrup (approx. 8 g)

50 g Brown sugar

1 tsp Water

extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

 

Method

Thermomix

Put all ingredients into the TM bowl.

Mix for 30 secs at speed 4.

Ensure all ingredients are incorporated, if not mix for a couple of seconds more. The mixture should just come together as a dough. 

Stand Mixer 

Cream together the butter, golden syrup, brown sugar & water.

Add to the creamed mixture the flour mix and the chopped dates.

On a low speed mix together all ingredients until the dough just comes together.

Rolling out the dough

Put the dough on a sheet of baking paper. Bring it together with your hands & kneed the dough gently. If the dough seems to sticky add a little extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour & kneed to incorportate the extra flour. The dough should be ready to roll out.

Place dough between two sheets of baking paper. To ensure the shortbread is even in thickness follow this tip. Find four placements (dinner setting) place two of them on top of each other on either side of the dough (Two of my placemats are 8 mm high). The placemats can be on top of or underneath the pieces of baking paper. I find it easier to work with the dough when it is between two sheets of baking paper. When rolling out the dough ensure the rolling pin is wide enough to span the dough and part of the two top placemats. My rolling pin is large – 61 cm from handle to handle. Initially when rolling the pin may not necessarily rest on the placemats, however, when the dough is the same thickness as the placemats it will. At this stage the dough should be all the same thickness. Put the dough (still in between the baking paper) onto a flat tray and put it into the fridge for approximately 10 mins - you don't want the dough too cold.

Cutting & Cooking

Turn the oven on to 140o C.

Line a tray with baking paper.

Bring out the cold dough. Gently lift off the top piece of baking paper, put it back down on the dough. Holding on to both sheets of baking paper on both sides of the dough gently flip the dough over. Lift off the top piece of baking paper - do not discard. 

Using a cutter of your choice cut out the shortbread and place them on a baking tray. For the date & caramel shortbread pictured above I used a 40 mm square cutter. When you have cut out as many shapes as possible bring the dough together, kneed it and roll it out again between the two sheets of baking paper. Continue cutting out shapes in the newly rolled dough. Repeat until you can't cut out any more shapes.

The length of time required to bake the shortbread will depend on the size of the cutter you have used & your oven. The cutter I used produced 21 shortbread that were ~ 18 g each. I baked these for 35 mins turning the trays at 15 mins as my oven has a hot spot.

If the dough is too cool going into the oven the top of the shortbread may crack a little.