Lavender and white chocolate shortbread biscuits

Directions

• To start, grease three large baking trays and set aside.

• Place the softened butter and lavender into a mixing bowl and beat together. If your butter isn’t soft, try the Mary Berry method. The veteran baker recommends chopping it into large cubes before placing them in a bowl of lukewarm water. Wait 10 minutes and drain.

• Beat the caster sugar into your butter and lavender before stirring in the flour. Then knead the mixture until it’s silky smooth.

• Divide your mixture in half and roll it out into two cylinders. Each should be around 15cm (or six inches) long. Then roll them each in the demerara sugar until coated all over.

• Wrap your biscuit cylinders in foil or baking paper and place them in the fridge to chill for around 15 minutes. When you take them out, they should be firm. If not, leave them in for a few more minutes.

• Pre-heat your oven to 160C/Fan 140C/325F/Fan 275F/Gas 3. Cut your cylinders into 10 slices and place them on the greased baking trays. Make sure they’re evenly spaced with a little room between each. When the oven’s ready, pop them in for 15-20 minutes.

• Take your biscuits out when they’re a little golden brown along the edges. Lift them off the baking trays with a spatula and place them on a wire rack to cool.

• Break your white chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl and cook in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it’s just melted. You can drizzle the chocolate onto the biscuits as pictured above, but we think they look a little more elegant when half-dipped. Place them back on the wire rack to let the excess drip off.

• Enjoy when the chocolate is set.