Rooney's Raspberry Shortbread

Keep up the patriotic team spirit and serve these edible flags at half time. The shortbread dough also makes delicious cookies.  Simply roll out and cut into novelty shapes using cookie cutters and then dust with icing sugar.  It would be fun to make a template of a football boot and also cut out circles for footballs.

Ingredients

110g softened butter
60g sugar
175g plain flour
pinch of salt
a few drops vanilla essence

or use sweet shortcrust pastry from a packet

150g cream cheese eg: Philadelphia
1 tbsp icing sugar
a couple of drops of pure vanilla extract
fresh raspberries

Method

Cream together the butter and sugar and then fold in the flour using a wooden spoon and then bring together into a ball using your hands.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of a 20p coin

Cut into four rectangles 13cm X  8cm

Place on a baking tray and pop in the freezer or fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for a few minutes then using a spatula transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla and spread over the shortbread.  Decorate with a cross made from fresh raspberries.

You can also use this recipe to make shortbread cookies.  Roll out the dough but this time cut it into shapes using novelty cookie cutters and bake for about 8 minutes at 200C.  You should be able to make about 12 cookies.

Information

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Chill time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 mins
MAKES 4 SHORTBREAD FLAGS