Traditional Scottish Shortbread

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •9-inch tart pan with removable bottom or 8x8-inch baking pan
• •Pastry cutter or your own two hands
• •Fork for docking
• •Flat-bottomed measuring cup for pressing

Instructions

1. 1

   Combine dry ingredients

   Whisk together the all-purpose flour, rice flour if using, and salt in a large bowl. The rice flour creates that impossibly tender, sandy texture traditional Scottish shortbread is known for, but the recipe works beautifully without it. Set aside.

   Superfine sugar dissolves more readily into the butter than granulated. If you only have granulated, pulse it briefly in a food processor to break down the crystals.
2. 2

   Work in the butter

   Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse, damp sand with some pea-sized pieces remaining. This takes five to seven minutes by hand. Your fingers should feel the grains becoming cohesive when pressed. Then add the sugar and continue working until the dough just begins to clump together when squeezed. Stop before it forms a smooth ball.

   Cold hands make better shortbread. If your palms run warm, dip them in ice water and dry thoroughly before handling the dough. The butter must stay cold.
3. 3

   Shape the shortbread

   For petticoat tails: Press the dough evenly into an ungreased 9-inch round tart pan with removable bottom, or a 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment. The dough should be about 1/2 inch thick. For fingers: Press into an ungreased 8x8-inch square pan. Use the flat bottom of a measuring cup to compact and smooth the surface. The top should look uniform and slightly pressed, not rough or lumpy.

4. 4

   Score and dock

   Using a sharp knife, score the round into 16 wedges, cutting about halfway through the dough. For fingers, score into 24 rectangles. Then prick the entire surface with a fork at 1-inch intervals, pressing through to the bottom. These holes allow steam to escape and prevent the shortbread from puffing. Refrigerate the pan for 30 minutes. This rest firms the butter and helps the shortbread hold its shape.

   Traditional shortbread molds pressed decorative patterns into the surface. If you own one, dust it with flour and press firmly onto the dough before scoring.
5. 5

   Bake low and slow

   Position a rack in the center of your oven and heat to 300°F (150°C). Bake the chilled shortbread for 40 to 50 minutes. Watch carefully. The edges should turn pale gold, barely kissed with color. The center will look slightly underdone and matte. This is correct. The shortbread continues cooking as it cools. Overbaked shortbread loses its tender snap and tastes dry.

   Every oven lies. Start checking at 35 minutes. The shortbread should feel firm when pressed lightly in the center but give slightly. It should not look wet or shiny.
6. 6

   Finish and cool

   Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the surface generously with superfine sugar while still hot. The sugar will adhere and create a delicate sweet crust. Re-cut along your scored lines while the shortbread is warm, pressing all the way through this time. Let it cool completely in the pan, at least one hour. Patience here is not optional. Warm shortbread crumbles; cooled shortbread snaps cleanly.

7. 7

   Store properly

   Once completely cool, carefully remove the shortbread from the pan. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature, layered between sheets of parchment paper. The biscuits will keep for two weeks stored this way, though they rarely survive that long. The flavor actually improves after a day or two as the butter fully saturates the crumb.

Chef Tips

• •The butter matters more than anything else in this recipe. Use the best European-style butter you can find, something with at least 82% butterfat. American supermarket butter contains more water and produces shortbread that spreads and lacks that characteristic snap. Kerrygold, Plugra, or any French butter will serve you well.
• •Do not substitute salted butter and omit the salt. The distribution will be uneven and the flavor flat. Shortbread needs salt added directly to the flour so every bite carries the same balanced sweetness.
• •Resist the urge to add vanilla extract or other flavorings. Traditional Scottish shortbread relies entirely on butter for its flavor. Once you taste the pure expression of good butter in sugar and flour, you will understand why the Scots never saw a need to improve upon it.
• •If your kitchen runs warm, chill your mixing bowl and flour in the freezer for ten minutes before beginning. Temperature control determines texture in shortbread.

Advance Preparation

• •Unbaked shortbread dough can be pressed into the pan, wrapped tightly in plastic, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Bake directly from refrigerator, adding 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time. From frozen, let thaw in refrigerator overnight before baking.
• •Baked shortbread improves with age. Make it 2 to 3 days before serving for the best flavor and texture. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature.
• •For gift giving, wrap individual pieces in wax paper, then pack into decorative tins. Include a card noting the date baked. Shortbread ships well and makes a welcome addition to any holiday cookie box.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 24g)