A thick buttery shortbread with a memorable velvety texture.
Ken has a wee bit of Scot blood in his veins so it is no wonder that Scottish shortbread is his absolute favorite cookie, or should I say biscuit?
It has taken me awhile to really come to appreciate the simple delight of shortbread but once you do, I don’t think there is any going back. You won’t be able to stop at just one of these scrumptious morsels and neither will anyone else.
A true shortbread has just 3 ingredients. Flour, sugar and butter. The addition of rice flour combined with all-purpose flour is what gives these that lovely velvety texture you are looking for in a great shortbread biscuit. You may find a recipe which includes whole wheat flour or cornstarch or oat bran. You can imagine how the texture will change with the addition of these different types of ingredients.
If you are short on time don’t fret, you can still have your shortbread and eat too,just use my Easy Shortbread recipe as that will cut your cook time drastically.
Traditional shortbread has just 3 ingredients.
The freshness of these ingredients and how they are put together makes all the difference in the world in the resulting cookie. Typically shortbread biscuits are made in 3 distinct shapes: rounds, rectangular slabs (fingers) or circles divided into segments and a pattern design is made with a fork on top.
What makes shortbread shortbread and not some other biscuit/cookie is the ratio of ingredients:
- 1 part sugar
- 2 parts butter
- 3 parts flour
In standard shortbread there are only 3 flour, butter and sugar, however, you may see the addition of salt if unsalted butter is used in the recipe. Don’t be tempted to substitute any other fat for the butter. While either may be used in many types of cookie recipes, for the best flavor and texture you should always use butter and for shortbread there can be no substitute.
In Carole Walter ‘s, Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets, I discovered a technique that turns so-so shortbread into a sensational flaky thick and buttery delight with that melt in your mouth aspect you expect from shortbread. This recipe takes time but the phenomenal results are worth every minute.
Shortbread is always welcome, no matter the occasion. Make your first batch of these unbelievably scrumptious biscuits and I assure you they will disappear before you blink so make another batch while you are at it and don’t forget to leave me a comment!
Phenomenal Scottish Shortbread
- March 16, 2020
- 1 hr 30 min
- Print this
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour, leveled
- 1/2 c rice flour, leveled
- 1/4 t salt
- 1 c butter, softened
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 T decorative sugar crystals
Directions
- Step 1
- Heat oven to 300°
- Step 2
- Cut a 15″ square of aluminum foil. Invert your baking dish and center it over the foil. Press the foil across the bottom and down the sides then remove. Turn the dish right side up and place foil shell inside and smooth and shape to fit against the sides snugly
- Step 3
- For best results strain the flours and salt together 3 times than set aside
- Step 4
- In a medium bowl mix the butter until smooth and creamy about 2 minutes then add sugar gradually.
- Step 5
- Add half the dry ingredients to butter mixture and use wooden spoon to incorporate well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and combine. Gently knead the mixture until smooth dough is formed. Do not overwork dough as this will result in a tough cookie.
- Step 6
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan using a rubber spatula or other smooth flat surface. Be sure to push dough into corners and that the thickness of dough is even
- Step 7
- Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes.
- Step 8
- Use a pastry scraper to cut straight down through the dough at 1 inch intervals to make 6 strips. Give dish a quarter turn and repeat to make approximately 25 squares. Sprinkle with decorative sugar and return to oven. Bake 10 minutes
- Step 9
- Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes.
- Step 10
- Have a cookie sheet ready. Grasp overhanging foil and carefully remove from baking dish and place on the cookie sheet. Smooth foil as best you can . Cut through the shortbread again and separate the biscuits slightly apart. Return to the oven for 10 minutes to dry and crisp the biscuits. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 5 -10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack
