Equipment
Ingredients
Shortbread Dough
- 200 g unsalted butter, room temperature, softened
- 100 g caster sugar
- 5 ml vanilla extract
- 300 g plain flour
- 2 g fine sea salt
Filling
- 150 g strawberry jam, stirred until smooth
Buttercream and Decoration
- 50 g unsalted butter, room temperature, softened
- 100 g icing sugar, sifted
- 10 ml milk
- 24 candy eyes
- 12 red sugar-coated chocolate candies
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 351 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- 46 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 24 g
- Sodium
- 73 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 11 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 5 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 1 g
- Cholesterol
- 45 mg
- Potassium
- 48 mg
- Calcium
- 15 mg
- Iron
- 0.4 mg
- Magnesium
- 7 mg
- Phosphorus
- 38 mg
- Zinc
- 0.2 mg
- Vitamin A
- 144 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 1 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.0 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 0.5 mg
- Vitamin K
- 2 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.0 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.1 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.04 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.04 mg
- Niacin
- 0.3 mg
- Folate
- 9 mcg
- Water
- 11 g
- Alcohol
- 0 g
- Caffeine
- 0 mg
Sources: USDA FoodData Central
Method
In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Add the plain flour and fine sea salt to the butter mixture. Mix gently until a cohesive dough just begins to form. Do not overwork the dough.
Form the dough into a flat disc, wrap tightly in cling film, and chill in the refrigerator to rest.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of about 5mm. Use the round cutter to stamp out 24 circles, re-rolling scraps as needed.
Place the dough circles on lined baking sheets, spaced slightly apart. Bake in the preheated oven at 170°C/340°F until they are cooked through but remain pale with only the faintest golden hue on the edges.
Leave the biscuits on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool entirely.
Spoon or pipe about a teaspoon of strawberry jam onto the center of 12 of the cooled biscuits. Top each with a second biscuit, pressing gently so the jam spreads evenly toward the edges.
Prepare the buttercream by beating the remaining 50g of softened butter, 100g of sifted icing sugar, and milk until smooth and pipeable. Transfer to a piping bag.
Pipe tiny dots of buttercream to secure the candy eyes and the red chocolate candy nose onto the top biscuit of each sandwich. Pipe a smiling mouth or silly expressions with the remaining buttercream.
Chef's Notes
- To achieve the perfect shortbread texture, keep the handling of the dough to an absolute minimum. The warmth of your hands melts the butter and creates a denser biscuit.
- If your jam is particularly chunky or firm, pulse it briefly in a food processor or warm it slightly in the microwave for 10 seconds to make it easier to spread evenly without breaking the delicate biscuits.
- For the buttercream, ensure the butter is truly at room temperature. Cold butter will result in a lumpy icing that clogs the small piping nozzle when drawing the smiles.
- To get kids involved, prepare all the components in advance and set up a decorating station. Let them choose their own red candies for the noses and pipe unique expressions.
Storage
Refrigerator: 1 week — Store in an airtight container. Buttercream decorations will firm up in the fridge, so let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before eating.
Freezer: 3 months — Freeze unbaked dough discs or unfilled baked biscuits. Do not freeze fully assembled biscuits as the candy eyes will bleed when thawing.
Troubleshooting
Biscuits spread out and lost their round shape in the oven
Cause: The dough was too warm or the butter was too soft before baking
Fix: Cannot be fixed once baked, but while still hot from the oven, you can gently nudge the edges back into a circle using a round cookie cutter larger than the biscuit.
Prevention: Ensure the dough is chilled for a full hour. If the kitchen is very warm, pop the stamped-out biscuits into the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.
Shortbread is tough and hard rather than crumbly
Cause: Overworking the dough when mixing in the flour, developing too much gluten
Fix: Cannot be fixed
Prevention: Stop mixing the moment the flour is incorporated and the dough clumps together.
Candy eyes are bleeding dark streaks
Cause: Moisture from the buttercream or condensation from the refrigerator
Fix: Carefully wipe the streaks with a slightly damp cotton swab, or remove the eyes and apply new ones.
Prevention: Only attach candy eyes close to serving time, or ensure the biscuits are kept in a dry, cool place rather than a humid fridge.
Cultural Context
Red Nose Day is a biennial fundraising campaign run by the British charity Comic Relief. First launched in 1988, it encourages people across the UK to do something funny for money to tackle poverty and injustice. Baking themed treats, like these funny face biscuits featuring the iconic red nose, is a cherished tradition in schools and communities to raise donations and spread joy.
