Scottish Shortbread. Shortbread is as basic and simple as a cookie (biscuit) can get. Sprinkle board with the remaining flour. Last week we featured " Melting Moments ", the lightest shortbread that I had ever sampled.
Shortbread is one of the most famous Scottish cookies.
Eaten around Christmas, it is also an essential part of a traditional Scottish New Year ( Hogmanay).
The success of a "shortie"—the Scottish nickname for shortbread—is to handle the dough with care and work it as little as possible.
You can have Scottish Shortbread using 5 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you achieve it.
Ingredients of Scottish Shortbread
- You need 1/2 cup of butter softened.
- You need 1/4 c of sugar.
- It's 1 cup of flour.
- It's 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- You need 1/4 tsp of salt.
Even the way Scottish shortbread is decorated is symbolic and traditional. No flavourings of any kind, other than a pinch of salt. No vanilla, no chocolate chips, etc. It is also formed into either fingers, or in a wheel a little less than half an inch thick; with crimped edges to honour the sun.
Scottish Shortbread instructions
- Read all the instructions before starting anything!.
- Bake 325°.
- Cream butter and sugar until mixed well.
- Add flour, vanilla, and salt, mix until it forms a ball.
- Using a roller or your hands, roll out or pat flat with palms onto a cookie sheet to about 1/4" thick.
- Bake for 15-20 mins til edges are brown. Cut into rectangles and cool. Enjoy!.
- These freeze very well!.
Some people call these petticoat tails. Scottish shortbread often include leaveners or a lower gluten flour (like oat flour/ rice flour) resulting in a texture different to the typical shortbread. *which is probably why one of your readers had asked about the oat flour substitution haha. Scottish shortbread is a biscuit to really sink your teeth into. After a trip to Scotland, I would always start to roll the "R" a bit. But what was more important to bring home was traditional Scottish Shortbread cookies!.