Mix caraway seeds, if used, with flour. Melt the butter in the milk.
Make a hole in center of flour, pour in milk mixture, add vanilla,
then sugar. Mix well, then knead lightly. Roll out on floured board
to ¼” thick in a circle or oval. Please on greased sheet. Optional –
crimp edges with your fingers or thumb; mark in squares, if oval; if
circle, make deep incisions to create 8 pieces but do not cut
through the pastry. Important – prick all over with a fork! Bake in
350F. oven for 20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool on wire
rack, dust with sugar. Break into pre-marked pieces and serve.
Supposedly, shortbread was Scottish. However, it has been popular in
Ulster for several hundred years, especially at Christmas.
1½
cups flour