This shortbread recipe is super easy to make, has a short cooking time and tastes great! What’s not to love?
How To Make Shortbread
The key to making easy shortbread also taste like the best shortbread is to use real butter.
Some recipes do suggest that you can use margarine in place of butter but personally, for me, the rich buttery taste of the real thing is what gives this shortbread a more traditional and AMAZING taste.
What makes this an easy shortbread recipe is that the only ingredients are; flour, butter and caster sugar.
Yes, that’s right, only 3 ingredients are needed to turn this into probably the best shortbread you’ve ever made!
Shortbread should take 15 to 20 minutes to cook in the oven, check on it at 15 minutes to see how it is cooking.
It’s important to make sure that the shortbread doesn’t cook for too long and turn brown. If it does, it’s cooked for too long, and will be a little hard to munch on; rather than soft and melt in your mouth loveliness.
Side note: If you take the shortbread out and really is too soft, pop it back in for a further 2 minutes – but don’t let it go hard.
The Quick Guide To Making Easy Shortbread
1. Make sure the butter is at room temperature and soft to touch. If it is too hard it will too hard to cream in with the sugar. You can use an electric mixer if you want to, but if the butter is soft enough you’ll have no problem creaming it up with a wooden spoon.
2. Sift the flour into the creamed butter and sugar. Gently mix it all together with your hands.
3. A soft dough should form. If it is too crumbly add a little more butter, conversely, if it is too sticky, add a little flour.
4. Press the dough into a greased baking tin and press it down with your hands. I like to gently score the slices of the shortbread, as well as use a fork to make some decorative holes on the surface before putting it in the oven.
Side Note: I got a bit carried away with my fork stabbing – you don’t need to add that many holes (unless you want to!)
5. Once the shortbread has been in for about 15-20 minutes, take it out – make sure it doesn’t go brown or it will be too hard. I usually slice up the shortbread while it is still warm and soft, leaving it in the baking tin until it is completely cool. I also sprinkle a little extra caster sugar over the top.
Storing Shortbread – How Long Will It Last?
I’ve never had the option of putting this to the test as it rarely lasts longer than a day or 2. However, should you find you have uneaten shortbread, it will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
The Best Shortbread Recipe
Yield: 8 slices
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Mmmm, shortbread! It tastes like an indulgent treat yet it is so quick and easy to make - it only needs 3 ingredients! Go on, go make it now...
Traditional Scottish shortbread is a simple recipe made with sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Other shortbread styles will include leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda, which makes them crisp instead of crumbly like traditional Scottish shortbread.
Walker's Shortbread is honoured to carry a Royal Warrant, granted by Her Majesty the Queen, for the supply of Shortbread and Oatcakes. Walker's Shortbread is a gift fit for a king, and a treat befitting any special occasion.
After shaping the cookies, don't rush to the oven! Instead, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so (overnight is OK, too). A short stay in the fridge will firm up the cookies and solidify the butter. This will help keep them from spreading too much.
Use your hands to form the dough into a flat disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it is ⅛-¼” thick.
If it's too warm, the butter and sugar cannot properly cream and the cookies will taste dense. Many shortbread recipes call for cold butter worked into the dry ingredients and that gives you a wonderfully flaky cookie but if not mixed properly, the results can be inconsistent.
Piercing the shortbread with a fork is not only for decoration, but it's meant for more even baking. Poking holes in the shortbread allows the heat to penetrate the cookie, hence more even baking. Notice I'm using powdered sugar here.
Why is shortbread considered to be bad for you? Shortbread is considered unhealthy because of the high butter content. How long do gingerbread houses last before eating them could make you sick?
Your shortbread should be crisp but crumbly. The key with shortbread is not to overhandle it. Make the dough exactly as instructed, but don't mess around making shapes or over rolling the dough - you will end up with delicious but tough biscuits.
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda.
Samoas are now “Caramel deLites.” Do-si-dos are “Peanut Butter Sandwiches.” Tagalongs are “Peanut Butter Cookies” and Trefoils are “Shortbreads.” But how are we going to move cookies with dull names like “Peanut Butter Patties?” And won't we get tired of explaining to customers what happened with the names?
To most of the rest of the English-speaking world, a biscuit is what Americans would refer to as either a cookie or a cracker. Biscuits can be sweet (shortbread) or savory.
It's not without reason that Walkers is known as The World's Finest Shortbread. Our traditional pure butter shortbread fingers are baked to perfection, and the sweet, delicious buttery taste is unlike any other.
Scotland has gifted the world with many treasures, including the Loch Ness Monster, stuffed sheep stomach, and the voice of Sheena Easton. Scotland has also given the world shortbread. For something traditionally made with just three ingredients (butter, flour, and sugar), shortbread shouldn't be hard to screw up.
Should butter be cold or room temperature for making shortbread? Always start with cold butter straight from the refrigerator. This will keep the dough from warming up, making it greasy and difficult to roll out.
Making shortbread cookies with cornstarch is necessary for a tender and delicate cookie. Next time you make chocolate chip cookies, I suggest you try adding 1 Tbsp of cornstarch to the batch to help keep them extra soft and tender.
Fine Cooking explains that the butter should be at refrigerator temperature. While many cookie recipes call for softened butter or at room temperature, if your butter isn't cold when making shortbread, it's likely to turn out greasy or be difficult to roll out.
Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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