A good piece of shortbread is a very special thing! It’s the most simple of bakes, but that doesn’t detract from it being one of the most delicious! I roll the edge of this shortbread in demerara (turbinado) sugar, which gives a delicious crunch and turns this into “Highlander Shortbread”.
Through growing up in Scotland, I’ve made a lot of shortbread in my time, and I think I make it well. However, no matter what recipe I have, I don’t think it’ll ever be possible for me to make it as well as a Scottish Grandmother!
Shortbread
Difficulty: SimpleYield
12
biscuitsHands on Time
30
minutesIngredients
100g butter, very soft
150g plain flour
50g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
30g demerara sugar (for coating)
Directions
- Add the butter, flour, 50g sugar and salt into a bowl.
- If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment at low speed mixing for a few minutes until the mixture goes through a stage of looking like breadcrumbs and then begins to clump together into a few large clumps of dough.
- If you are not using a stand mixer, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour. Once the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, start pressing it together in your hands until it forms a dough.
- Tip the clumps of dough out onto your worktop and very gently knead it together into a single ball of dough.
- Shape the dough into a rough log about 10-15cm long.
- Sprinkle the worktop with the demerara sugar and roll the outside of the dough in this sugar.
- Place the dough onto a sheet of baking paper or clingfilm that is at least 10cm wider than the length of the dough and roll the dough up in the clingfilm or baking paper. Take the edges of the paper or cling film and twist them tightly so the dough is tightly held by the wrap. Holding the twisted edges, roll the dough along the worktop a few times to create more tension and a tight shape in the roll.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 150ĀŗC/300ĀŗF fan and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Take the shortbread log out from the fridge and cut it into slices about 3/4cm – 1cm thick. Place these on the baking tray with a couple of centimetres between them to allow spreading.
- Bake the shortbread for about 40 minutes until an even light golden colour all over. It’s quite tricky to overbake the shortbread when baking at this low temperature, but you want to ensure you don’t underbake the biscuits.
- Leave them to cool before storing in an air tight container and enjoying!
Recipe Video
Notes
- Gluten-free: To make this shortbread gluten-free, use a gluten-free plain flour blend and add 1/4tsp of xanthan gum.
Peter,
I thought I might add a bit of orange zest to the dough. Yes? No?
E.
Great idea! And you could also half-dip them in some melted chocolate after cooling if you want a wee chocolate orange vibe!
Peter,
Funny you should mention that. I actually still have a chocolate orange thingy in my baking cupboard. It’s a molded dark chocolate orange wrapped in foil and you smack it and it breaks into wedges.
Do you have this in the UK? I never know what kind of sweets you have as opposed to what’s available in America.
At any rate, it’s infused with orange flavoring. Melted down, I think that should work well.
E.
Yes, Terry’s chocolate orange is a big chocolate favourite over here! That will be delicious! Hope it works well!
Should I use unsalted butter?
Thanks š
I do use unsalted butter in this recipe, but you can absolutely use salted butter if that’s what you have to hand. If you do use salted butter, though, I would recommend you don’t add the salt which is listed in the ingredients.
Great recipe, thanks for sharing it!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Peter. I love your book because I recently found out I have Celiac and need to be gluten free. Iāve been trying out this short bread recipe but am having a hard time getting the dough to stay together enough in a roll to cut in slices. I am wondering if it is because I am adding cornflour? Or maybe because the gluten free flour Iām using also has anthem gum and I e added more anthem gum. Is it too much? Also I notice in this video you just add it all in one go but in your book you recommend creaming the butter and sugar. Whatās difference? Would love some tips. Thanks!!
Hi Beth,
To make this gluten free, substitute the plain flour for a gluten-free plain flour blend (I use Doves Farm Freee) and 1/4 tsp xanthan gum. The dough will be more crumbly, to help with this you can make sure the butter is really soft before adding it to the dough, this will just make the whole dough softer and easier to combine. Alternatively, you can press this mixture into a greased and lined baking tin and bake it as a flat sheet of shortbread, score this whilst it’s warm out of the oven before cooling and slicing. This is an easier way to shape and bake if it is crumbling too much.
In my book I cream the butter and sugar, this makes the whole biscuit a bit lighter and slightly more crumbly. However, I have started to do this method of ‘rubbing in’ the butter (normally with a stand mixer becuase I’m lazy) as I prefer the slightly firmer biscuit that this creates. Small differences in outcome, but both valid methods.
Hope this helps in some way!
Peter
Iāve never made shortbread before but now Iāll give it a go.
Peter,
I’m from the US. When you say “sugar”, are you referring to granulated sugar or caster sugar? We really want to try these but want to use the correct ingredients.
Thanks
Hi There, you can use either granulated or caster sugar for this recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Peter