Easy Date & Cinnamon Shortbread Recipe – Perfect Tea Time Treat

 

One of the things I really enjoyed in the over 20 years that I lived in the U.K. was going to National Trust properties.  Usually (but not always) they consisted of a beautiful historical house and gardens. In most cases there was always a gifts shop, and a tea-room or restaurant attached.  A place to relax and enjoy a hot drink and a cake or some other delicious bite after the exhaustion of walking through and exploring everything.

Their tea rooms are exemplary and are well known for their baked goods and sandwiches, soups, etc. Having a treat in the tearoom was always something that I looked forward to on these excursions, and the goods on offer usually had an historical context attached to whichever property we were visiting.

I really miss being able to visit places like this. There is nothing like that where I live now.

 

Today's recipe comes from the Vyne, a 16th century house in Hampshire. It has a working kitchen garden, the produce of which features on the menu of the restaurant. As well there is a very pretty tea garden.

Traditionally shortbread was not meant to be a really sweet biscuit/cookie. Short and crumbly, with a buttery almost sand-like texture, this bake gets almost all of its sweetness from an abundance of sticky pieces of chopped dates which pepper it in abundance.

These are very rich and go beautifully with a nice hot drink. I adapted the recipe from one I found in a cookbook I own entitled Good Old-Fashioned Teatime Treats as inspired by the National Trust and their properties and edited by Jane Pettigrew. A delightful little book, it contains more than 60 recipes having been gathered from the National Trust Properties which dot the U.K.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE DATE & CINNAMON SHORTBREAD

There is nothing complicated here.

• 3 1/2 cups (350g) sifted plain, all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup + 1 1/2 TBS (250g) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup +2 tsp (175g) soft light brown sugar, packed and put through a sieve
• 1 1/4 cups (175g) stoned dates, chopped small

 

Make sure you use plain, all-purpose flour, NOT self-raising. There is no leavening to be used in these. That is what gives the characteristically short, crumbly texture to these.

I used Saigon ground cinnamon and salted butter.

I put the sugar through a sieve to remove any lumps from the sugar. As it not being creamed into the dough and is only being stirred into the flour and butter mixture after you have rubbed them together, this is important.

I used medjool date that I cut with a really sharp kitchen knife. I cut each date into quarters and then cut the quarters crosswise into smaller bits.

 

HOW TO MAKE DATE & CINNAMON SHORTBREAD

The rubbing in of the butter and the cutting of the dates into small pieces is a bit labor intensive, but, aside from the time taken, these not really very difficult things to do. The best things in life often require a bit of patience.

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a 7 X 11-inch Swiss roll tin and line with baking paper, leaving some overhang for lifting out. (See note below about pan sizes.)
2. Whisk the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until the mixture resembles sand. (Just put some of your favorite music on to listen to and rub away. It will go quickly.)
3. Whisk in the brown sugar and the dates, mixing everything together very well. (Make sure your dates are chopped fairly small. A sharp knife makes short work of this.)
4. Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and press down firmly and evenly. You can use the bottom of a metal measuring cup or a palate knife to do this.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Leave to cool completely in the tin.
7. Lift out and cut into evenly sized fingers with a sharp knife.
8. Store in an airtight container. (I used an empty chocolate tin, lined with baking parchment, with more parchment between the layers.)

 

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT THIS RECIPE

Can this be made ahead of time:  Certainly. This is the type of bake that keeps very well and can be made well ahead of the time you with to serve it.

Can this be frozen: Absolutely.  Cut into the fingers and then place into a tin or other airtight container which you have lined with baking parchment, placing baking parchment between the layers. They will keep for up to 3 months.

What kind of butter is used:  I used salted butter. As there is no salt in the recipe, this keeps this bake from tasting too bland.

Can I make the dough in a food processor: You could, up to the point of adding the sugar and the dates.  I believe for authenticity and the best texture, however, that you are better off rubbing the butter into the flour mixture by hand.

Must I sieve the sugar:  Only if you don't want lumps of brown sugar in your mixture. Sieving it removes that possibility and gives you a much nicer and more uniform result.

 

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL TRUST

Founded in 1895, the National Trust is a British institution which was begun with the purpose of preserving places of historic and national beauty for the enjoyment of the public. They operate as both a charitable and a membership organization which focuses on the conservation of parks, gardens, wetlands, and historic homes/castles/buildings across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Without their help many of these properties would have been lost forever.  You can read more about the National Trust here.

 

A FEW OTHER SWEET DELIGHTS

ADAPTED FROM NATIONAL TRUST SITES 

CORNISH BANANA CAKE - A deliciously moist banana cake layered with a buttery banana filling and iced with a cocoa banana icing. This authentic British Tea Cake originated in Cornwall and can be found in the National Trust Tea Rooms situated on the historic properties of Cornwall.

DOLBURY PUDDING - This steamed pudding recipe comes from the restaurant at Killerton, which is an 18th century house set in the countryside of East Devon, situated in the South West of the UK. It was so named as it is said to resemble Dolbury Hill which rises above the back on the house. What you have here is a beautifully moist and stodgy sponge cake, studded throughout with lots of lovely bits of apple and the fruit from the mincemeat which is used in the batter. This is delicious served warm with lashings of custard. 

  

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Yield: 16 fingers

Author: Marie Rayner

Date & Cinnamon Shortbread

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Everything a good shortbread biscuit/cookie should be. Not too sweet they are quite rich, with a short, buttery, crumbly texture. The sweetness comes from the dates which pepper these bars in abundance. Perfect to enjoy with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups (350g) sifted plain, all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup + 1 1/2 TBS (250g) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup +2 tsp (175g) soft light brown sugar, packed and put through a sieve
• 1 1/4 cups (175g) stoned dates, chopped small

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a 7 X 11-inch Swiss roll tin and line with baking paper, leaving some overhang for lifting out. (See note below about pan sizes.)
2. Whisk the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until the mixture resembles sand.
3. Whisk in the brown sugar and the dates, mixing everything together very well.
4. Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and press down firmly and evenly. You can use the bottom of a metal measuring cup or a palate knife to do this.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Leave to cool completely in the tin.
7. Lift out and cut into evenly sized fingers with a sharp knife.
8. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

The equivalent of a 7 x 11-inch pan can be achieved by using:

• One 9-inch round pan
• One 9 x 9-inch square pan

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