Almond Orange Shortbread

Growing up, mum bought a tin of Dansk shortbread cookies every year. You know the blue tins, right? And during the Christmas season, it was often the only biscuit floating around the house. But no one actually liked them, so the tin and contents got thrown out in January, only to reappear the following year. 

But it did introduce me to shortbread. And shortbread has been a personal favourite of mine for a long time. And shortbread with citrus is pretty awesome. This shortbread packs a marzipan punch when it's fresh out of the oven that mellows over time, allowing the orange flavour to develop and pack an even bigger punch a few days later. I would skip the nuts next time I made this, and the kids would probably like it better. My dough was too soft to roll into logs, so I just rolled balls and pressed down with a glass base.

Ingredients
250g butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1tsp almond extract
2 cus plain flour
zest of 1 orange
150g slivered almonds

Method
* cream butter and sugar until smooth
* add almond extract and orange zest, mix well
* add flour, mix well
* add almonds, mix carefully
* pour onto bench, gently knead
* roll into 2 logs, wrap in baking paper and refrigerate 2 hrs
* slice 1 log into even pieces, place on tray
* bake 180°C 12-15min, or until golden brown