Alexander Seed and Orange Shortbreads

Melt in the mouth shortbreads, with a tang of Alexander seeds and orange – scrumptious! If you're not familiar with Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) then I have whole blog on Alexanders for you to browse. I also have a dozen recipes for Alexander seeds.
Makes 25
Ingredients
- 100 g salted butter
- 40 g Demerara sugar
- 1 heaped tsp orange zest (from 1 orange)
- 1 tsp roughly ground Alexander seeds
- 125 g plain flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/160°C fan and grease a large (30 x 40 cm) baking tray, or 2 smaller ones. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar add the orange zest and Alexander seeds and beat well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, and then add to the creamed butter mix. Work the mix together, though don’t over mix as this will make the shortbreads tough.

Flatten the dough onto a clean surface (you can roll it or use your hands) to about 20 x 15 cm, cut into around 25 rectangles, and using a table knife or palette knife (not a sharp knife), slice the rectangles off the surface and place in the baking tray, with at least 1 cm between them. Lightly prick the surface of each with a fork to create dotted design and bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

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Tags: alexander seeds, alexanders, alisanders, black lovage, shortbread recipe, Smyrnium olusatrum, wild spices