If you're spending the first half of most of your days panic-baking and the second half scoffing your fresh-out-of-the-oven goodies with reckless abandon – well, firstly, you're not alone, and secondly, we've got just the thing for you.
True Australian icon, Arnott's has pledged to release one old-school recipe a week while physical distancing continues. First up last week was the crunchy, jammy, cream-stuffed delight that is the Monte Carlo. This week, we've been blessed with the suspiciously simple recipe for the humble Scotch Finger. Incorporating just four ingredients – flour, icing sugar, butter and baking powder – you'll be biting down on your buttery delight in no time.
Arnott's biscuit maestro Vanessa Horton has tested and adapted this recipe (and the others that will be dropping in coming weeks) for home cooks, so you're in safe hands. And there's such a wholesome reason behind it: “We know how important our biscuits are to Australians, both locally and living abroad, in helping them come together with family and friends and feeling connected."
It's true. Biscuits are the most genuine form of connection. But this latest drop has left us wondering... what will Arnott's bring out next? The Kingston? The Iced Vovo? God forbid, the Lemon Crisp?
Anyway, for now, get your mitts out and preheat those ovens – because here's the recipe below.
Arnott's Scotch Finger
Ingredients
170 grams salted butter, softened
90 grams soft icing sugar
1 cup (165 grams) plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Method
Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 30 x 20 centimetre rectangular slice pan and line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper two centimetres above edge of the pan.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and icing sugar for two minutes or until pale and creamy. Sift the flour and baking powder over the butter mixture and mix on low speed or with your hands until combined.
Press mixture into slice pan and smooth over with a pallet knife. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and using a small sharp knife, immediately slice five centimetres crossways and 7.5 centimetres lengthways into rectangular pieces. Then run the knife gently ½ way into the shortbread pieces, not touching the bottom, to make the finger indent. Let the biscuit cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Note: If you would like to imprint SCOTCH or your NAME into the biscuit, this should be done before the biscuit cools.
Et voila! You're done.
Need more kitchen inspiration? Here are all the Sydney chefs you should already be following on Insta.