Help! My shortbread's not binding!

[slobberedupon]

Have used my DH's shortbread recipe (he's a chef) but have mucked it up. I started making it whilst waiting for a doctor to call back to let me know if DS1 needed to be seen as he had his first lump on his head due to falling over (he's only 5 mths old and luckily didn't need to been seen), so basically wasn't really paying attention and therefore crumbed the flour and butter instead of creaming the butter and sugar before adding the flour.

So... to try and fix it I have added the sugar to the crumbed mix to try and get it to form a dough but it won't bind. What should I add now to fix it? A bit more butter? A little bit of water? If so how much!

Don't want to call DH at work to ask but don't want to come across as being unable to make something as simple as shortbread! .

His recipe is:
500gm flour
250gm butter
125gm caster sugar
zest of a lemon

Can anyone help? Thanks!!

hmm, if it was me I would probably try the water, knowing that the more I add the less 'short' it would be, so I would do it a tiny little bit at a time.

butter might be a better plan though.... maybe try butter and if that doesn't work, a little bit of water?

Thanks, will give it a go with a little bit more butter then the water. Finger's crosssed!

It worked, with just a bit more butter. Thanks so much - normally are not wobbly on these sort of things but I think I'm feeling a bit thrown by DS1's fall today