BUTTERY SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to gas mark 2/300°F/150°C.
• Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
• First of all, beat the butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon to soften it.
• Beat in the sugar, followed by the sifted flour and semolina.
• Work the ingredients together with the spoon, pressing them to the side of the bowl, then finish off with your hands until you have a smooth mixture that doesn't leave any bits in the bowl.
• Divide the mixture into 9, and shape each portion into a ball (dust the work surface with flour if you find the mixture too sticky to work with).
• Flatten each one slightly and prick the centre with a fork (but not all the way through).
• To make it look pretty, make a 1 cm crinkly border on the top by lightly pressing a fork making a slight indent working all the way around (working for the edge towards the centre).
• Make sure that the biscuits are at least 1/2 inch in thickness (with the indentations at the edges).
• Place onto the prepared baking sheet, very well spaced out as they will spread out quite a bit during baking.
• Bake them for 50-60 minutes on the centre shelf of the oven (keep an eye on it after 45 mins - the edges seem to colour more easily than the top) - it should have turned pale gold and feel firm in the centre.
• Remove from the oven and dust the top with caster sugar.
• Leave it to cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container.