A recipe for Scottish Shortbread! Butter is blended simply with flour, sugar, and a little salt, pressed into a pan, and baked until set.
This Scottish Shortbread is a wonderful choice during the holidays with just a few ingredients and a handful of fairly easy steps.
Flour is combined with a fine sugar and salt, then combined with softened butter to create a crumbly dough. The mixture is pressed into an 8×8 inch (20×20 centimeter) baking dish, pierced across the top with a fork, and cut into individual rectangles or fingers. The shortbread is then baked until just set and lightly golden around the edges.
Cut the shortbread to separate and serve topped with an additional sprinkling of sugar if desired.
A Few Tips
A fine caster sugar is best for this recipe to better blend with the butter. If you do not have caster sugar available, transfer granulated sugar to a food processor and pulse a few times until fine.
The butter should be softened, but not completely melted or falling apart. Set out on the counter at room temperature about 20-30 minutes before using.
Take care not to overwork the ingredients. Just combine until a dough comes together to keep the light and crumbly texture.
I pressed the dough into an 8×8 inch (20×20 centimeter) greased square pan and cut the shortbread into thin, finger-shaped rectangles. The shortbread should be about 3/4-1 inch (2-2.5 centimeters) thick. It can also be formed into a round and cut into individual wedges to serve.
Before baking, prick the dough across the top halfway through with a fork. This will help release steam as the shortbread cooks and retain its shape.
Store the Scottish Shortbread at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1-2 weeks or freeze the baked shortbread for up to a couple of months.
Looking for more Scottish recipes?
Try my:
Scottish Shortbread Recipe
Adapted from The Daring Gourmet
Scottish Shortbread
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (283 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (150 grams) fine caster sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter softened at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
For Topping:
- Granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C) and grease an 8x8 inch (20x20 centimeter) baking dish with butter.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Mix in the butter until just combined and a dough starts to come together.
- Press the dough into the prepared pan in an even layer.
- Cut the dough into individual rectangles and pierce the tops all over with a fork at least halfway through the dough.
- Bake in preheated oven until edges are lightly golden, about 30 minutes.
- Cool the shortbread in the pan, then cut across the lines again to separate the shortbread into individual finger-shaped rectangles.
- If desired, sprinkle the tops with additional sugar. Store at room temperature in airtight container.
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